Advent
by Jinxing The World
Summary: A Collection Of Kristanna Drabbles, A new one shot story will be posted everyday from the 1st Of December Until December 25th. Rated T(to be safe though the majority of stories are K) unless otherwise stated. Kristoff x Anna with some family stories.
1. December 1st- In Sickness

"You're burning up!" Anna all but shouted as she touched Kristoff's forehead with the back of her hand. "You are not going out there, no way. No how."

Kristoff sighed, he had been caught, and there was no reasoning with Anna when she got like this. Perhaps if he hadn't looked so pale she wouldn't have noticed how ill he was feeling. He thought, until that moment, that he had done a good job hiding it. It was the peak of the winter harvest season and he was behind for his usual ice quota. Even though he was harvesting on a lower lake this year, making it easier to return home to Anna every night, he was behind. The weather was to blame, and though Elsa was doing her best to control it, the power of nature went beyond even her control. Today was blustery at best, but it was one of the best days he had seen in a long time and he knew to save this year's harvest he needed to leave now.

"Anna, I'm fine, really." He tried to reason with her, knowing that there was no way that this would turn to his favor. If there was one thing he knew for sure about Anna it was that she was absolutely dogged. Something he both loved and lamented in equal quantity.

Red braids swung with momentum as she stomped one foot on the ground. She was not going to let him go out in the frozen Arendelle winter with a burning fever. She loved him far too much for that. "You are not going outside and that's final."

Kristoff sighed, he knew that she was right, he was too sick to go out, and if she didn't stop him Sven certainly would. In his gut he knew that there was no hope for him or his harvesting season. He would have to stay back at the castle with Anna, Elsa, Olaf, and Sven. Regardless of this however he could not help but add, "Are you really going to stop me feisty pants?"

Anna gave him her most frustrated look before huffing out air. "I will if I have to, but I know you're going to let me have my way anyway." She put a hand on his cheek, her strong façade dissipating slightly as she did so. "You know I'm right Kristoff, you can't go out there like this."

Sighing he nodded, she knew him too well. He couldn't help but give in to her. There was something about Anna that allowed her to boss him around in a way no one else could. He supposed that it was the love he felt for her, after all you can't do much of anything against the one who holds your heart, especially when you know that they only have your best interest in mind.

"Alright, I'll stay today, but I really need to go tomorrow."

His voice was pleading as he spoke, but Anna knew that it wasn't her that he was pleading with, rather he was speaking to himself and the weather. If he was well and the weather was not absolutely cataclysmic he knew that she would let him go, even if it was somewhat reluctantly. Even though she knew that he was not speaking to her directly she nodded, "Of course, if the weather is alright you can go tomorrow." She bit her lip for a moment then added the words that always doomed him, "On one condition."

Kristoff knew those words all too well. Everything with Anna was some form of bargain, they had first met that way, and not much had changed since then. He was sure that there was no way to get around this, however and agreed. "Alright, name it."

"You have to let me help you get well."

Her eyes were glowing with excitement and sheer pleasure at her imposed stipulation. She knew that he would say yes, he had to unless he wanted to try to push past her in order to get to Sven and his sled. They were in the stable currently, and she knew that even if he tried to do so, Sven would care for his health equally as she had and would not allow him to get anywhere.

Kristoff expected as much. Of course she wanted to take care of him, it was all she ever wanted to do, and though he pretended to hate it, it was nice that someone did care that much for him. "I guess that's alright." He said, watching her excitement grow as the words passed his lips.

Anna wasted no time, "Straight to your room, boots, jacket and hat off."

"But.."

"But nothing, go!" She commanded, being as authoritative as she physically could be with her small frame and medium stature.

Kristoff simply chuckled, watching her try to look imposing and walked off to his room to do as she said. He knew that she would be following shortly, and as much as he would pretend to be annoyed, he was looking forward to her caring for him. It was only a little cold, but there was something about Anna being his nurse that made him think he wouldn't mind being ill every so often.

Anna walked a few paces over to Sven and unhitched him from his tack before sliding him the carrot that she had been bringing him from the kitchens when she first noticed Kristoff trying to leave. She loved the reindeer and was happy to see him still inside and warm. She scratched behind his ears gently as he quickly munched the orange vegetable, even eating the top. Kristoff insisted that she was making him fat and lazy with all of her special treatment towards him, but Anna knew that Sven deserved it; in fact both Sven and Kristoff deserved it. She knew better than most how hard the two of them worked and she simply loved them both to death.

After tending to her reindeer friend, giving him a little kiss on the nose just before leaving, Anna made her way to the kitchens and made a request to a smiling chef that a bowl of soup, a hot kettle of water, and a loaf of bread should find its way up to Mr. Bjorgman's room as soon as possible. She had plans to make him well, and they required warmth and fluids.

Kristoff heard the knock on the door and for a moment wondered whether or not he answered if she would come in anyway. Of course it was Anna behind the door, her spirit practically radiated through the wood. "Come in Anna." He said softly, sure of the fact that her ear was pressed against the door anyway.

Anna smiled and opened the door as fast as she could. "I have soup coming up soon and…" She cut off looking over at him. "Why aren't you in bed?" She asked moving over to him in order to remove the coat he was still wearing.

"I don't remember that being a demand of me." His chuckle was deep and teasing, however when his teasing was interrupted by a cough, Anna gave him a very disapproving look.

She shook her head and pointed at his bed, which he climbed into as soon as he finished coughing. He knew that she was right, but it didn't mean that he didn't enjoy giving her a little bit of a hard time.

Tucking him in she sat at his bedside and reached out a tentative hand to softly brush the blond hair out of his eyes. It was an absolute and total mess from the hat he had been wearing, but she like it best that way.

Kristoff finally gave in completely to her care. She only had his best interest in mind of course, and he did enjoy the attention she gave him. Being with Anna made him feel things he had never felt before, beautiful, sweet things that filled his heart with joy and warmth. He loved her and she loved him.

Anna watched as Kristoff closed his eyes. Perhaps he thought they would be closed for just a moment, but Anna knew what was happening. The full extent of his cold was hitting him and he would soon be asleep. She felt his feverish forehead again and softly kissed it as he fell deeper and deeper into sleep. She had made plans for today, she had wanted to get things done, but she could not tear herself away from his sleeping form.

His features went soft as he slept, and Anna loved to see him resting. It revealed the vulnerability about him that few got to see. She ran her thumb over his cheek lightly and tried to justify staying with him all day to herself. She knew she had things to do, but she didn't want to leave his side. "I need to wake him when the food comes." She finally said to herself softly, looking down at the sleeping man.

He had only been sleeping for a few minutes when his eye cracked open slightly and she felt herself being pulled down beside him with a strong arm. She laughed a bit, playfully yelling "Hey!" but he only grunted and fell back to sleep with a noticeable smile playing on his lips.

She no longer had to justify, being pinned down by his arm. She was trapped, but it was the happy sort of trap. He was under the blankets and she was above, but she allowed herself to be spooned by him, and wrapped up in his warmth.

She let her eyes close and mused over the trouble she'd give him if he got her ill too. In less than a half hour sleep took her, and gladly so. She was not awake to see the food arrive, and in fact they did not wake until after dinner, resulting in a famished trip to the kitchen with hands held.


	2. December 2nd- Cave In

Kristoff opened his eyes, he was confused and entirely lost. It was dark, pitch black so that he could not see his hand in front of his own face. In fact as he attempted to do so, he had to bring his hand up to touch his face to ensure that it was even there at all. Dazed, he pulled his hand away from his face only to feel some warm, sticky, thick liquid cling to it. He had been injured enough to know that it was blood, but he had no idea how it had gotten there. He was not experiencing any extreme pain, and he, of course could not remember getting injured, but he could tell that there was some sort of abrasion to his face.

"Kristoff." Came a muffled and pained voice in the darkness ahead of him. The voice was familiar to him and it immediately cleared his head.

"Anna?" He shouted, knowing clear as day that it was her he heard. "Anna where are you?"

It was all coming back to him now. There had been a snowstorm while they were out looking for the trolls and a cave had been the closest available shelter. He remembered hearing a rumbling followed by a sudden cave in, but little else. The details were jumbled in his mind and there was nothing he could piece together other than panic. They were in trouble, big trouble.

There was no reply, but rather a sound of crying coming from the same direction. Kristoff was on his back, but moved onto his stomach, crawling in the direction of the sobs until his hand met something warm and soft.

"Anna?" He asked as felt around. He was terrified for them both, but more her than himself. He needed her to be okay more than he had ever needed anything in his entire life.

"Kristoff." She said breathlessly as she winced and reached out for him in the same way he reached out for her. " Kristoff I don't know what happened it was just loud and dark and oh god, are you okay?"

Hearing her voice he nearly laughed beside himself, she was okay, and she was worried about him. Of course she was, she was always worried about others and put those she loved before herself. He had seen her frozen and thawed over that fact and he knew that it was unlikely that she would ever change. He didn't want her to, he just wanted her to be Anna, and he just wanted her to be okay.

"I know, I know." He said trying to soothe her for a moment. "I'm fine, but Anna are you okay, are you hurt?" She was speaking and he supposed that it meant that she was alright enough, but he wanted to be sure of any injuries she might have.

"I twisted my ankle when I fell I think, and everything sort of hurts from the fall, but I'll be alright." She was sitting up halfway and was honestly more worried about him than she was about herself. She had already removed her gloves and as her hands searched out blindly in the dark they made contact with his face, and more importantly the side of his head on which she could feel blood. "Kris, oh my god, you're bleeding."

He felt Anna touch his cut and winced, now it hurt, not terribly, but now that he was conscious of it being there he could feel the pain associated with it. "I'm fine, don't worry, it's just a scratch." Honestly he had no knowledge of the severity of his head wound, but he didn't want to say that to Anna and scare her. Honestly he just wanted to calm her down. To get them both calm and focused on the task at hand was the only way to get them both out of the situation as it stood.

Anna was still worried despite his words. Whenever he was hurt he never told her how bad it was, he wanted to be strong and not worry her, but not telling her everything worried her more than the actual truth. "Oh my god, where's Sven?"

She couldn't think straight quite yet, her mind still swirling with panic. Hadn't the reindeer just been with them? Where had he gone? Her mind immediately assumed the worst.

Kristoff thought for a moment, trying to collect the facts from his scrambled mind. It was difficult and his head ached but eventually an answer surfaced amongst the rubble of his thought process. "He didn't come into the cave Anna, he was staying outside until I made sure it was safe to come in." He sighed as he remembered another important detail. "He was staying out there like you were supposed to."

Of course Kristoff wasn't mad at Anna for following him into the cave, she never followed his instructions, why should he believe that she would have last time? Rather he lamented the fact that she had been injured by following him, he never wanted her to get hurt, and certainly he never wanted her injured without him, but he hated the fact that he had lead her into danger even if it were unintentional.

The realization that Sven was not in the cave with them was a relief for them both however. "Look Anna, don't worry. We're going to get out of here, Sven will find a way to get us out." He sighed letting himself touch her face for comfort and assurance.

Anna relaxed slightly with his touch, there was something about him that always calmed her. "You put a lot of faith in him." She said softly before adding, "How many of these situations have the two of you been in?"

Kristoff thought back to all the times that Sven had saved him or that he had saved Sven. Their history was long, and complex, however the answer came to him simply. "More times than you're thinking and more times than I can count." It was a simple reply but it was the truest thing he could say.

"So what do we do now then?" She asked, her eyes just beginning to adjust to the darkness so that she could make out the shadow of Kristoff's form before her. She felt guilty for having followed him into the cave against his instruction and against her own word that she could not. However she was relieved that if they were in this situation that they were in it together. They were safer together than they would ever be apart.

"Wait." Kristoff responded simply before negotiating his body to fit against a cave wall. He opened up his arms to her and unbuttoned his jacket. It was cold within the fallen rubble of the cave, and he had already seen that they were trapped, so at the very least he could give Anna a little bit of warmth. "Come here." He said to her gently. Usually he would move her himself, pulling her in to rest her back against his chest and settle her body between his legs, but his worry of hurting her further meant that he would allow her to move to him on her own.

As soon as Anna heard Kristoff implore her to be close to him she did so. She wanted nothing more in that moment than to be in his arms. She shifted herself until she was seated between his spread legs with her back on his stomach. He was warm and the rising and falling of his chest was calming for her. He was alive and so was she. They could weather this as long as they were together.

As soon as Anna's familiar weight was upon him, Kristoff leaned forward to kiss the top of her head. Hopefully Sven would come along soon with help, because he was sure that even the two of them together could not move any of the large rocks blocking their path to freedom. Honestly he wasn't even sure of how far they were caved in. All he knew was that panicking would help nothing.

"Kristoff?"

"Yes?" He replied, he heard a quiver in her voice as she spoke.

"Kristoff are you scared?"

He couldn't lie to her, "Yes Anna, I'm scared."

Anna gasped slightly, it was the first time that she had ever heard Kristoff honestly admit something like that. Usually he was too afraid of scaring her to answer to that. However she wasn't any more frightened by his fear than she had already been. "It's okay." She said, being the strong one. Ever the optimist that she was, "We're going to be alright and we'll tell the trolls the news, especially Bulda." There were little tears in her eyes as she spoke, "She'll be so excited."

Kristoff brushed his hand through Anna's hair, undoing the braids as he went, "I know she will." He said gently, wrapping the unused arm around her waist, pulling her back even tighter to his chest. "She was always so excited about the idea of me getting married." He chuckled a little bit, trying to lighten the situation a little for the both of them. "You know she's going to try to plan the whole thing, right?"

Anna smiled then, he was always great about distracting her from her fears. "I wouldn't mind wearing that grass and gem crown again."

"How would Elsa feel about that?" he asked, "She always strikes me as a bit of a traditionalist with that sort of thing."

"Well she'll insist on a white dress with it, and maybe even a veil, but if it makes me happy, she'll let me wear whatever I want."

Anna ran her hand over his leg gently, "Besides she's getting less rigid with that sort of stuff by the day, you can see it too can't you?"

"Yeah, she's relaxing a lot now. I think it's because of you."

Anna laughed a little bit, "You're helping too, and she just needs to be surrounded by people who love her for who she is. She's still scared sometimes, living your life in isolation is kind of hard to get over you know?"

"She was really excited when we told her." Kristoff remembered how she had smiled and congratulated them both. He was happy to be part of a family at last, especially if his involvement in their family made it whole again for them. He loved Anna with every fiber of his being, and with that came affection for Elsa. The two of them were very alike in many ways, and it was taking them a while to completely understand one another, their friendship was coming along nicely enough.

"I'm making her the maid of honor you know."

Kristoff smiled, "Of course you are, she's you sister, she deserves it."

"Who's going to be the best man?" Anna asked with a smile, she already knew the answer of course, but the talk of details of their wedding was calming her down greatly.

"Sven of course, and some of the trolls and harvesters will be groomsmen."

"I wonder if Olaf will mind being a brides maid?" Anna asked with a laugh before admitting, "Honestly other than him and a few members of the staff my only other friends are paintings."

Kristoff, who had finished unbraiding her hair, wrapped both of his arms around her. She had mentioned this before in a previous heart to heart. Kristoff could somewhat relate to her, he hadn't had much for friends either, but he at the very least had been friends with a few of the harvesters and had the trolls for family. Anna had nothing and no one. He kissed her head again; he would never let her feel as alone as she had growing up.

Hours later Anna had fallen asleep. He had been singing old folk songs to her when she did so, and he was content with holding her as she slept. Of course he could not rest, despite all the promises that he had made to her about their safety, he was still worried and somewhat on edge. He had been hearing a scratching song for what he estimated to be about twenty minutes and though it was likely just a mouse or some other cave dwelling creature, he held hope for a rescue coming.

Finally there was something that Kristoff was sure about. A thin beam of light was passing between the cracks of two rocks. And what had sounded like scratching before now sounded like breaking and shifting. "Hurry!" Someone shouted and there was a sound of slamming before the entire wall of rock fell away.

"My baby!"

Kristoff looked up into the dim morning light, it was Bulda, Sven and the other trolls.

Anna began to wake in Kristoff's arms as the gaggle of his family began to rush in. There were shouts of his name, her name and questions coming so quickly that neither he nor the freshly awoken Anna could answer.

In fact the only thing that he could do once his wits came about him was lift up Anna and announce somewhat lack luster compared to how he had imagined it, "We're getting married."


	3. December 3rd- Little Kicks

Kristoff's grin was broad as he lay in bed beside his wife. His hands rested lightly on her swollen tummy as they talked lazily about their day. All was dark and quiet in Arendelle with most of its inhabitants having gone to bed hours ago. Tonight was an ordinary night for them, but an extraordinary magical one for the royal couple.

"Elsa wouldn't let me do anything today because of 'my condition'." Anna laughed, "She keeps calling it that and worrying over me like a mother hen. I know she means well, but I hate doing nothing and honestly I just have this weird feeling like I want to wash everything."

Kristoff chuckled in return, "You're nesting Anna, and you know Elsa is just worried about you and the baby."

"I know, but I don't know if I can take another four months like this." Anna was currently twenty weeks into her pregnancy and thanks to her small frame it was rather easily noticeable. From the moment that she had begun to show Elsa would not allow her to do single thing or even lift a finger. Anna, of course appreciated her sister's love and care, but it was getting difficult to be so restricted in her life.

"Want me to talk to her?" Kristoff asked as he leaned in to Anna's face to kiss her forehead lightly. He and Elsa tended to have an open forum of communication when it came to Anna and the pair had an unspoken agreement to assist the red head in any way possible when they could. That was how their relationship worked, through similar personalities and a mutual love of Arendelle's one and only Princess.

She sighed softly and ran a hand through Kristoff's messy blond hair, "No I think I can handle it. She thinks she's helping and I don't want to discourage her. After all despite the stress it's probably put on her, this whole experience seems to be good for her."

Anna stretched out a bit, but didn't move so much to shift Kristoff's hand off her baby bump. She liked it when he rested his hand on her like that, it was comforting and relaxing. It reminded her that he was just as excited about their bun in the oven as she was.

"If you say so." He replied, yawning slightly in exhaustion. He had been working with the palace guards all day, assisting them with some trivial matter that was now required of him as the consort of the Princess of Arendelle, or more simply put, a Prince. He never imagined in a million years holding that title, and as such he never referred to himself as a Prince. Being someone who was raised in the mountains by trolls the entire thought of royal titles seemed far too pompous to him. He was simply Kristoff Bjorgman, an ice harvester who happened to fall in love with and marry a Princess. He had honestly given thought once or twice to the fact that if anyone had told him even two years ago that he would be married to the Princess of Arendelle and would be expecting a child with her, he would have laughed in their face and taken away the tankard of whatever they had been drinking. He would have never believed that he would be where he was today.

"What do you think?" Anna said expectantly, pulling Kristoff out of his own thoughts.

"About what?" He asked, missing the first part of whatever she had said due to his intent focus on his thought process.

"About the name Sofia for a girl and Peter for a boy?"

Kristoff mulled this over in his mind for a moment. "I like Peter, but maybe Emilie for a girl?" He smiled softly before adding, "I was told once that my mother's name was Emilie."

Anna smiled for a moment, Kristoff had never mentioned that to her before. She was sure that it had merely slipped his mind or he had his reasons for not telling her about it at the time, but it brought a smile to Anna's face to hear it. She knew Kristoff knew little to nothing of his parents except for the fact that they had passed on when he was very small. "Emilie is a beautiful name."

Kristoff nearly jumped a mile, seconds after Anna spoke. "Did you feel that?" He asked wide eyed and mouth agape.

Anna smiled lightly, "I think someone likes their name." The baby had kicked, Anna had thought she felt it lightly earlier, but with this being her first child she had been unsure. This time however it was obvious to her, and she was beyond happy that Kristoff had felt it too.

"She… he… it kicked." Kristoff said, in absolute awe, "Our baby kicked Anna." She was excited, but he was more in awe than she was. In fact he was acting quite like a kid in a candy store. He rested his hands again on her tummy before shifting to kiss it.

Anna smiled, "Elsa is going to freak out in the morning when I tell her." After this she felt the need to add, "A good freak out that is. She's been asking me for weeks if they baby has kicked yet. She's been reading pregnancy and parenting books behind my back, I know it!"

Kristoff laughed a bit, "I'm sure she'll be absolutely thrilled." He knew that he was at the very least.

"Maybe I shouldn't wait until morning." Anna said, her happy smile suddenly transforming into a wicked grin. "Maybe I should go tell her right now."

Kristoff knew that this was some sort of evil payback on Anna's part, waking her sister as vengeance for her helicopter sistering. Yet despite this he did not attempt to talk her down. Usually he was the only thing standing between Anna and a ridiculous idea, but in this case he was standing aside, and was actually joining up to go with her. If Anna was happy, he was happy. And of course the snow queen would be annoyed at being awoken, but not for long when she realized the reason behind it.

Anna hopped out of bed immediately after the idea hit her, "Let's go!" She said as she headed for the door.

"Maybe you'll want to put on some clothes first?" Kristoff said to her just before she turned the door handle. He might be going along with her on this crazy scheme, but he still would be her voice of reason.

After they were both adequately dressed the duo went off to awake the Queen and subsequently spent an hour in the library touching Anna's tummy to feel the kicks of the little royal to be.


	4. December 4th- Fondue

Anna stirred the pot with abroad grin on her face. There was no kitchen staff was assisting her in her work. They truly avoiding being around her when she was on a mission, offering her help was pointless as it would only be denied. The only thing that they could do to assist the crown princess was to bring her what she needed and stay far away. To get between Anna and her chocolate was a fool's errand.

After a moment on consideration Anna added an additional splash of cream. She was cooking up chocolate fondue in accordance to her grandmother's recipe. Of course her mother's mother had never actually listed legitimate quantities of each ingredient, preferring to just use terms such as pinch, splash, smidge, and handful. Anna, through her mother, had learned to decipher such instructions and added ingredients by eye.

Half a Bottle and a Splash of Heavy cream  
>Enough Sugar<br>A Smidgen of Grated Cinnamon  
>Two Pats of Butter<br>Handfuls of Chocolate  
>A Dash of Dark Rum<br>Pinch of Orange Zest

After another stir or two it was to the consistency of her preference and she removed a very hot pot from the wood stove and placed it atop a counter to cool enough to transfer into a bowl and carry upstairs. She had plans for this specific batch of fondue, and it needed to be perfect. One of the kindly members of the palace staff had already secured and prepared some very sweet strawberries for her plans and as such Anna needed only wait for the chocolate to cool slightly and for the guest of honor to arrive in his bedroom.

That guest, of course was Kristoff. He had been having a particularly stressful week, as was Anna herself. It was the final week separating them from their wedding, and plans were still being made, fittings were being had, and among all of this stress and chaos they had very little time for the reason they were getting married in the first place. They had no time to spend with each other.

Anna, however was setting out to fix that, clearing her and Kristoff's schedule for the rest of the night. She justified this to herself buy the belief that they truly should not be busy so late anyway. It was already after supper and the pair should have been off to their own devices anyway. She poured the awaiting chocolate fondue into a bowl and set it onto a tray where the strawberries had already been lain out. There was nothing quite so relaxing in her mind than chocolate, and if she had her way Kristoff would feel the same.

No one questioned her as she walked out of the kitchens and all the way upstairs. She had requested to be left alone for the night, and many of the staff understood her feelings. They saw what stress the wedding and wedding planning was putting on her, and they of course wanted her to relax. Anna was well loved by the staff and by all the common people of Arendelle, and they loved her even more for wedding one of their own, especially as it was told in whispers throughout the kingdom that she truly loved Kristoff and their marriage was anything but political. This was a fact that the palace staff knew well, and though they weren't necessarily the type of people to gossip outside of the castle, they often told this fact with pride.

It didn't take Anna long to find Kristoff's room as she was all but running there. He had agreed to wait there for her after dinner and she simply could not wait another moment to see him again. She knocked with the edge of the tray she was carrying. Taking note of her own clumsiness enough to not want to carry it with one hand or set it down, she saw this as the best option and with some luck she did not drop a single thing.

Kristoff opened the door. He was tired, but knowing it was Anna on the other side of the wood he allowed it to swing in. He felt as if he hadn't seen her in ages, although they had just eaten dinner together. He supposed that it was all the stress of wedding plans. In fact although tonight was a break from that for them, he had just moments before been at his desk working on his vows. He could sing, but he was hardly a bard and honeyed words didn't come to him easily. So far it had been a month long process of writing and he had yet to get the finished product. He supposed he was being too picky about his wording, but in truth he just wanted everything to be perfect. He had hidden the sheets of paper so that there was no way she would find them before the wedding. He wanted it to be special for her.

"Hey." Anna said breathlessly as she saw Kristoff revealed on the other side of the door. His hair was mussed as if he had been running his hands through it moments before. Anna smiled, it was very likely that he had been as it was what he did when he was thinking. He looked like a mess, but she was not one to judge, she could only imagine what she looked like in that moment.

"Hey." Kristoff responded, equally as breathless as she had been. He looked her over before motioning to have her come in. She had sent him to his room just after dinner and had promised him a surprise within the hour. Looking to the tray in her hands he saw strawberries and chocolate. He grinned, whenever Anna was feeling stressed out her first comfort was sweets, especially chocolate. Though he never had much of a sweet tooth, he did enjoy sharing candies and pastries with her, if only to see the zeal in her eyes as she tasted the sweetness of it.

Anna entered as Kristoff motioned her to and heard the door close behind her as she went to his bed. It was almost as messy as his hair and Anna chuckled a bit to herself. He never made his bed, and when he did, it was never quite right. "I brought a snack." She said as she set the tray on a table near his bedside before walking over to pull at the sheets and make his bed properly.

"I see that." Kristoff replied as he watched the redhead pull the blankets and sheets on his bed to organize and make it in a way that he never quite could. "You brought enough chocolate and strawberries for an army."

Anna blushed almost as red as her hair, "I stress eat, okay?" Finishing up the bed making process she sat on its edge, "And you aren't a dainty eater yourself."

Kristoff laughed, he hadn't meant to embarrass her, in fact he was just trying to tease a little bit. He couldn't say that he didn't appreciate the results however as he did enjoy seeing her turn bright red. She was cute when she was blushing, though she was always cute anyway. Crossing the room he sat next to her on his bed, smiling. "You're right, hand me a strawberry."

Anna smiled again and handed him two, she knew him well enough that he would want more than just one. "I had my final fitting today." She began as he bit into the ripe flesh of the fruit. The strawberries, though intended for the chocolate, would most likely be eaten by him as she devoured the chocolate fondue with a spoon, such was their way.

Kristoff smiled, thinking of Anna in a white gown that he had yet to see then shuttered at the thought of his own fitting. It had been torture as he was sure that he looked ridiculous in the proper attire of the court. He hated the fact that he was getting married in a monkey suit and that many other monkey suits would ultimately follow the first. However if having to be the Prince of Arendelle was the only downside to marrying Anna, he supposed that it would all be worth it in the end.

Anna watched as a bit of strawberry juice trickled down the side of Kristoff's lip. He was always a messy eater, but as she was as well, she supposed it was just another reason why they were good for each other. "Almost everything is together now, so it's nice to just take a moment and breathe."

Kristoff, wiping away the juice with the side of his hand turned to Anna and wrapped an arm around her. "It is, isn't it. I feel like I haven't seen you in months, we've both been busy ever since we announced the proposal."

To this Anna twisted the little ring on her left hand, a reminder that none of this was a dream and that they truly were to be married. "But we're alone now." Anna said as she dipped a strawberry in chocolate and fell back onto Kristoff's bed before biting into it. Her mother and the nurses in charge of her as a child used to forbid her from and yell at her for lying down while eating, but they never truly stopped the habit. Mouth somewhat full she continued, "And it's probably the last time we'll be alone together until our wedding night."

Kristoff blushed himself at the mentioning of their wedding night. While Anna was likely right, he had been too busy planning to even think of that. She had just unwittingly given him an entirely new set of worries. He reached over past Anna's reclining form for another strawberry then fell onto his back himself. Shoving the entire strawberry into his mouth he rolled onto his side to see that Anna had a bit of chocolate on her lip. He quickly kissed her and felt it smoosh against his lips along with hers.

The unexpected and somewhat messy kiss made Anna laugh. His lips were warm and soft against hers, and she immediately relaxed as he kissed her. As the kiss broke she was chuckling, "I guess we'll just have to make the best of the time we have now then."

Kristoff, laughing also, couldn't agree more as he pulled her into a bear hug and thought of all the fun they could have with a few hours alone, chocolate, and strawberries.


	5. December 5th- Keys to the Kingdom

It had been a simple enough request Kristoff supposed, run Arendelle for a day while Anna and Elsa were off on a diplomatic mission, and watch the kids. He assumed that he could handle it given that in the past he had done much harder work, harvesting ice and living in the wilderness alone. However nothing could have ever prepared him for the situation he had just walked into. Who could ever imagine that two children, left alone for only five minutes, could make such chaos?

He was currently standing in the doorway of Elsa's office, planning to sign off on a few aid requests that he was made aware of by Elsa herself. However as soon as he was able to form a logical thought as to what exactly was going on, he rushed over to the curtains which had somehow been set alight although there was not a match in sight. He dumped a vase of water, flowers and all upon it. As he did so he ripped the curtains down so that he could stomp the remainder of the flames out with his feet.

Once the flames had died down he surveyed the damage to the rest of the room. Other than the curtain barbeque he noted a broken, and rather priceless vase, the pair to the one he had used to put out the curtains, cookie crumbs, a sprung mouse trap, several broken framed paintings which had fallen off the wall, and amongst all the rubble two very sheepish looking children.

"Sophia, Peter, what in the world happened in here?"

Peter, the eldest of the pair at age seven looked down at the carpet with shame. He was always the more responsible of the two and was very like his father, he looked up to him in every way imaginable and hated to see the look of disappointment that was on his face. In reality it wasn't really his fault, but even if he told his father the truth he was sure that it would be nearly impossible to believe.

"We were looking for the mouse that Gerda told us was eating the cookies off the sweets cart." Sophia, very like her mother at five was of course the one willing to explain. She was too brave for her britches at times, and Kristoff often called her feisty-pants due to the way that her boundless spirit reminded him of Anna. She held out a magnifying glass, she had been nearly obsessed with mystery stories as of late, something Kristoff blamed on a recent trip to visit the trolls, Bulda always did tell the best stories, but they were almost too well told for Sophia's own good.

"And I followed the cookie crumbs here. I was using my magnifying glass on the curtains and Peter saw the mouse so I looked away and the curtains caught on fire." She smiled a little then, in the face of all the trouble she was in she couldn't help but smile at the craziness that had happened. "The mouse ran towards the door and sprung the trap I set for it, but it scared Peter and he fell into the vase."

"And the pictures?" Kristoff asked pointing to the pile of portraits on the floor. He tried not to portray too much emotion on his face, and was going to let his kids plead their case, after all despite all the trouble they got into they were good kids.

"Oh." Peter said, finally piping up, "Those were like that when I got in here."

Surveying the damage yet again Kristoff sighed and put one hand on his forehead before dragging his hand down his face. All in all truth be told their entire story was just insane enough to be probable. They did, of course, have half of Anna's traits and therefore had inherited her knack for trouble and strange chaos. "Are the two of you alright?" He asked. Neither of them were on fire, bleeding, or missing limbs which was usually how he assessed injury, however he had to ask.

"I burned my finger a little bit." His strawberry blonde, blue eyed darling replied, holding up her left pointer finger and making a pitiful face.

Kristoff didn't know what to do other than shake his head. "Peter." His son's brown eyes shot from the floor immediately when he noticed the lack of anger in his father's voice. His unruly, cowlick ridden hair flipped up with the motion of his head, and Kristoff despite the chaos around him couldn't help but smirk slightly. The kids truly were the perfect mixture of him and Anna, "Take your sister to Doctor Johanasen to get your sister's finger bandaged."

"Yes dad." He said, somewhat relieved to get off so easily.

"And neither of you breathe a word of this to your Mother or Aunt." He gave them a meaningful look, "They'll kill all three of us."

Agreeing, of course being that they did not wish to face the wrath of their Aunt Elsa, or even worse, their mother, the pair scooted off towards the East wing of the castle where they knew they would find Doctor Johanasen sitting in the library. They had left the damages up to their father now, and as they had no punishment, they were glad it was him who had to fix the mess, and not them.

"Kai!" Kristoff called down the hallway after the kids left. "I'm going to need glue, drapes, a framer, and a lot of help."

Hours later, Anna and Elsa arrived by carriage. Their daylong visit to the castle of one of Arendelle's Duke and Duchess's had gone fairly well. At the very least they had assurance that they had their support in the building of a new orphanage in a nearby farm town. It was a reassurance that they had not truly needed, but politics required house calls every now and then. In truth the sisters were just happy to be home again.

"Kris!" Anna shouted as she entered the front door of the castle. "How was your day? Are the kids in bed?"

Kristoff walked forward to kiss his wife hoping and praying that there was no trace of guilt on his face. "Same old, same old, and yes I put them to bed, but they are like you so who knows if they're actually asleep."

Anna stuck out a tongue at his teasing. "Well I'll meet you in our room after Elsa and I drop off some paperwork in her office."

Kristoff inhaled sharply. "Ah I'll come with you." He said suddenly. "I've missed you all day!"

Elsa quirked an eyebrow at Kristoff's insistence at following them to her office, he rarely was interested in any official business unless his involvement was absolutely necessitated. She knew that he had some sort of reason for following them; however she knew that whatever it was not of any consequence, perhaps of some amusement for her, but nothing that was overly worrisome.

The trio did not take long to get up to Elsa's office and drop off the paperwork. They chatted about their days on the way up before Kristoff and Anna made the decision to retire to their room. Elsa, of course decided to stay in her office, working late.

"Goodnight Elsa!" Anna said with a grin as Kristoff lead her out of the room with a light hand on her lower back. She was overwhelmingly happy to be home, and she was more than ready for bed, having eaten in the carriage on the way back.

"Goodnight." Elsa replied demurely as the pair walked towards the door.

"Oh Kristoff." She suddenly piped up before he was able to escape.

"Yes?" He replied, heart racing. _What did she notice?_

"You changed the drapes." She said gesturing to the windows behind her, "I like them very much, though you rarely take any interest in redecorating."

Kristoff's face of shock told Elsa almost everything she had to know, however she wouldn't torture him. She did like to mess with him, as he did her from time to time. They understood each other in a strange way. "But I suppose that's nothing of importance. Sleep well."

Slipping away Kristoff thanked God for his good fortune. He simply could not believe that he had pulled it off.

Elsa smiled before sitting back down to her desk, noticing a bit of soot on the floor near her right foot. She would ask Gerda and Kai what exactly went on in the morning, but at the moment she couldn't help but laugh and assume that her niece and nephew had some hand in whatever was worrying Kristoff so. Perhaps she would have a chat with them as well, she did rather enjoy hearing the stories of their antics. It reminded her of being young again in the days where she and Anna got themselves in far too much trouble.


	6. December 6th- Home

"You lived here your entire life?" Anna asked in awe as she walked through the front doors or the tiny woodland cabin which Kristoff had called home before moving in with her at the palace. "It's so…"

"Small? Bare bones? Lacking?" Kristoff had been afraid to bring her to the home he built himself with the help of Sven and the trolls; however he couldn't help but be its biggest critic. He was sure that Anna was seeing its every flaw, but he was the one that was pointing them all out.

"I was trying to find another word for inviting." She said looking at him. Her face was flushed and she was smiling with excitement. It was springtime in Arendelle, all the lilies were in bloom, the sky was blue and everything was fresh and new and being born. Anna had begged Kristoff for months to let her visit his cabin, but now with the threats of winter behind them, he was forced to give in.

Kristoff smiled at her words, Anna couldn't lie to him without making it obvious that she was not telling the truth. She was the sort of person who laughed and acted nervous when she was dishonest. Truthfully Kristoff appreciated the fact that she even cared about his little shack. It wasn't much, but it was his and her interest in it after living her entire life in a castle made him feel as though she truly and honestly did care.

"It's just really welcoming." She said with a smile as she tugged at his hand. "Come on, give me the tour."

Kristoff laughed a bit at her excitement. If there was one thing he could always count on Anna for it was her boundless excitement about everything and anything. "It's not much of a tour." He said as he gestured around the room. "We're in the kitchen, dining room, living room right now." The room was large enough to accommodate all it had to do and yet was small enough to feel cozy. There was a woodstove in the corner of the room on which Kristoff did his cooking, a small table with two chairs towards the center of the room, shelves and cabinets lining the walls, and a small cot like couch facing the room's one and only window. Around the room lanterns were hung and there were two doors, one leading to the outside and the other leading to the stable which was attached to his home. Other than this there were a few chests with personal effects within them.

Kristoff crossed the room to a place where an archway was hung with curtains. This was the passageway into his bedroom. The curtains were dark forest green, his favorite color. Of course before meeting Anna he had never given thought to the concept of a favorite color, but when she first asked he had answered black and grey, however Anna insisted that they weren't colors at all. So since the day she first asked him he maintained green was his favorite.

Leading Anna through the curtain he added, "This is where I sleep, and I guess that's it." It wasn't much of anything at all, but he liked it well enough. It wasn't as if Anna was expecting any different. After all she knew better than most how simple he liked his living space. He had begged her within days of moving into the castle for a smaller room with less furniture, he just wasn't one for unnecessary things.

Anna surveyed his bedroom for a moment noticing that there was truly only a bed there. There was only a single small window in the small room, and beside his bed there was a small bedside table, on top of which there was little but a wooden box and a few odds and ends including a drinking glass, a few scraps of twine and a folded pocket knife. The bed was made nicely but simply with a quilt and a single pillow. In the corner of the room there was a chest, likely full of clothes as she noticed a pair of woolen socks on top of it.

Anna said nothing, rather she flopped down onto his bed, which she found more comfortable than she would have imagined. Despite having the princess treatment her whole life with fluffy pillows, fluffy down comforters, and fluffy mattresses, she much preferred the firmness of Kristoff's bed. As she fell into it she sighed, though the travel hadn't been long, he riding on Sven and she on one of the palace horses, she was tired. "Mmmm." She was comfortable for the first time in an hour.

Kristoff didn't say a word, he asked no questions but rather fell onto the bed beside her. It was just large enough for the both of them, nothing like the King sized bed in the palace, but yet still large enough for the two of them.

"Are you sure you want to stay here tonight?" He asked, not really understanding the mindset that brought her to the conclusion that staying in his cabin was anything of import or interest. Sometimes Anna was just Anna and not even he could understand it. It was the wonder of her spontaneity that always awed him and reminded him that Anna was truly one of a kind.

"Of course I'm sure." She said, turning onto her stomach so that she could look at him and still keep herself comfortable. "I wouldn't have begged you for a whole winter if I wasn't sure."

Kristoff laughed, "I'm pretty sure you still would. You seemed to be having fun with it as time went on."

Anna smiled coyly in return as if she had no idea what he was talking about. She had rather enjoyed bugging him to bring her, popping up at the most inopportune moments to ask, or catching him when he was especially vulnerable. Of course she had no malicious intent in doing so, she was simply being Anna. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really?" Kristoff asked, rolling his eyes for effect. She had a way of bringing such silliness out in him. "You don't remember walking into my room while I was only wearing a towel and saying that you wouldn't leave until I agreed or took off the towel?" His eyebrow was quirked and his face was red. It was a particularly embarrassing memory given the fact that she had caught him completely by surprise and that if she had entered only a moment or two later he wouldn't have been wearing the towel at all.

Anna blushed and giggled a bit before regaining control of herself. It had been quite the sight to see, especially because they hadn't even been engaged at that point, and she was certain she had been breaking plenty of proprietary rules by seeing him with only a cloth covering his nakedness. Twisting the ring on her finger that reminded her that she could soon see everything, she decided to continue her coyness. "Really Kristoff your mind must be playing tricks on you. I think you're losing it."

At that point Kristoff had had quite enough of her preposterousness and knew that it was high time for a bit of retaliation. "You're right, I have gone crazy." Making sure that she was looking at him he made a crazy looking face, crossing his eyes and sticking out his tongue. It wasn't a lie necessarily as she did drive him insane. However he couldn't help but laugh before going in for the kill.

Anna shrieked as Kristoff went straight for her sides, tickling her until she begged for mercy. "Kristoff!" She shouted. "No fair! I can't… stop!" Erupting into a mess of giggles and snorts she could no longer speak but rather all she could do was try to retaliate and push him off, unsuccessfully, until finally her voice returned. "I give! I give! Uncle, uncle!"

Kristoff, not letting her off so easily, continued, "Why? What's wrong Anna?" He was grinning mischievously, he knew all the places that tickled her most, and he would not relent until he got what he wanted.

She continued to roll and snort with laughter. "I'm sorry!" She shouted, repeating it again in a higher pitched shout, "I'm sorry I walked in on you in your towel!" He lightened up then, but she continued, "I'm sorry I didn't leave until you agreed, and I'm sorry that I looked at your butt when your towel sagged! I'm sorry!"

Kristoff, laughing finally relented. "Okay, okay." He said barely able to breathe after laughing so hard. However once his mind completely processed what she said, his laughter cut off. "Wait, you saw what?"

Anna, blushing crimson, and not just from the tickling she just got, clammed up. "Nothing."


	7. December 7th- The Master Storyteller

Anna simply could not sleep. There was nothing she hadn't tried, counting sheep, reading, warm milk, anything and everything one could imagine, she had tried. And this of course led her, wrapped in a fluffy blanket, to walk across the hall to the room of the only person who could help.

She knocked twice on the door, knuckles making a solid rapping noise on the compacted oaken door. "Kristoff?" She called into the darkness. She wasn't sure whether or not he could even hear her and she felt guilty for waking him if he were asleep, but truth be told she needed him, and she needed him badly. The light was dim in the hall, the only source of light at all was from a nearby window's glowing with starlight. There was something about the light that made everything special, everything phantasmal. _The sky's awake, so I'm awake._ She mused on the thought for a moment before the sound of padding bare feet caught her attention and made her heart flutter with relief.

Kristoff, who had been sleeping, awoke with the first sound of Anna's knocking. He was sleeping soundly until he had heard her knock, but as soon as his keen ears heard her fist meet the door the first time he was awake and out of bed. He had been enjoying his rest, but that was no matter if Anna needed him. He knew that if she was coming to wake him up in the middle of the night, she really and honestly needed him. Regardless of what he was doing or what time it was he would always do what she needed, he would always be there for her no matter what.

He shuffled across the floor sleepily, on a mission to see what she needed, but not yet fully awake. His eyes were half shut with sleep and his hair was cow licked and mussed from the pillow and rolling he had done. His thought process wasn't fully developed at that moment but he could think ahead far enough to open the door.

Anna watched as the door swung away to reveal a very sleepy looking Kristoff. She would have laughed if it weren't for the fact that she was just happy to see him. He only had one eye open and his face was still striped with pillow marks, but somehow he still managed to look good, a bit foolish, but handsome. She supposed the fact that he was shirtless helped.

"Wuh?" He asked, trying to say something that was in some semblance like English. The gears were starting to spin in his head, but it was a slow going process and frankly she was just happy to see him up.

"Hey." She said quietly, still wrapped in her blanket, part of it covering her head like a hood. She couldn't comment on his state because she was sure that she was quite a mess as well.

"Hey." He responded, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, finally seeming to wake up and quite rapidly now that he had seen her face. "Can't sleep?" He asked with a yawn. This was not the first time she had come to him for that reason, and he was sure that it would not be the last.

Anna didn't have to speak, she needed only nod before a yawning Kristoff led her in, closing the door behind him. Without any further comment Kristoff hooked his arm around her waist and led her to his bed. He knew what she needed and even though he was hardly awake enough to form a complete thought or sentence, he knew he would have to try for her.

Once they had both ambled into his bed, Anna leaving her blanket on the wood floor behind her, Kristoff pulled the blankets up and rested his arms around Anna, who had already taken her place lying on his chest. "Song or story?"

It had been a rather fortunate and unfortunate day when Anna had first heard him sing. It was fortunate in that she loved his voice and since that day had always pleaded to hear it, and it was equally as unfortunate for the same reasons. Kristoff liked to sing, as he liked to tell stories, but usually it was with Sven. Although he knew that Anna would never judge him, he much preferred to sing to reindeers over people.

"Story." She replied simply as she nuzzled into his chest further. It was hard and strong with taunt muscles, yet for some reason it made an excellent pillow. He was warm and smelled of licorice, she supposed that he had dipped into the kitchen's candy stash, just as she often did. In the pursuit of sweets he, she and Elsa were the same, and as such candies and pastries were made and purchased in excess by the palace. Anna, in jest, had suggested once to her sister that they make a separate account in the palace coffers just for the sugary treats.

He was somewhat relieved by this, as he was sure his voice could not take singing at the moment, rough and deep with sleep, he wasn't even sure that he could sing even if his life depended on it. For a moment or two he thought of a story, but one came to him rather quickly.

"Once upon a time in a not so faraway kingdom there was a Princess who could not sleep."

Anna giggled and kissed the space on Kristoff's chest where her lips had been closest to. She knew that he was going to tell her a silly story, as he always did. In truth however the story's content never mattered, she just wanted to be lulled to sleep by his deep voice and rhythmic breathing.

"All of the palace staff did all they could, but there was nothing that would put her to sleep. Not singing, not warm milk, not counting sheep, nor did changing her mattress or anything they could do." His thumb drew small circles on her arms as he spoke, knowing that he just needed comfort and something to focus on to fall asleep. If they were oriented differently he would have stroked her hair as it was always the simplest way to make her fall under the spell of sleep.

"But they knew that there was one, an expert story teller who could calm her and put her to sleep."

Anna stuck her tongue out in a lackluster attempt to disagree with his "master story telling". However she noted that she had too little energy to do so convincingly. He was already affecting her in ways beyond her control.

"So they dragged him down from his mountain home, to tell her stories every night for the rest of eternity, stealing away his free will and ruining his sleep schedule for all time." He kissed her forehead. "The end."

Anna rolled her eyes. "That's not how it really ends, that's a silly ending."

"Doesn't matter." Kristoff replied as her eyelids flickered, she was getting tired and if he knew her at all, she was about to crash. "If the master story teller tells it, true or not, silly or not, it is what it is."

Anna protested a bit more before Kristoff began to hum lightly, which as it usually did, put her to sleep instantly. She tried to fight it only to fight him, but she could not. He was her ultimate downfall when it came to staying awake, and he loved to watch her drift off.

Shifting a bit until he was comfortable, the master story teller dozed off as well with the Princess of Arendelle in his arms. He would tell her the true ending some other day, the ending where the storyteller meets the princess and falls in love with her, the ending that closes with the engagement ring that was currently in his desk drawer.


	8. December 8th- Sledding

"Are you sure this is safe?"

"I have absolutely no idea."

"Comforting."

"Hey I did this all the time as a kid."

"You took a makeshift sled down the largest hill right next to the iced over Fjord as a kid? Didn't you have your parents or Palace staff watching you?"

"Yes, but Elsa and I snuck out a lot when we were little."

"But you're not little anymore Anna, you're not the least bit worried that you'll break through the ice when you get to the bottom."

"I probably won't even get that far." Anna looked at Kristoff mischievously, he had been trying to talk her down from this for the last five minutes or so, and the last hour before that when it had been merely a thought in her mind. As she had found as a small child, the lids off feed barrels from the stables made especially good sleds when the snow covering the hills of Arendelle was iced over. Conditions had to be just right, but when they were one could grab a lid, find a hill, and really fly. "Either way there's only one way to find out."

Before Kristoff could even open his mouth to protest again, Anna was off. She was sitting squarely in the center of the large lid with her hands holding onto the sides. It didn't take her long to gain speed and as she accelerated, so did Kristoff's heart rate. He could imagine it now, Anna breaking through the ice, or falling and getting hurt. He could only imagine explaining it to an angry Elsa, and frankly he did not wish for that to be in his life at the moment.

Though it felt like days rather than seconds, Anna's sled slowed to a stop, and admittedly to her credit she did so quite a ways before the bank of the fjord. He hadn't necessarily doubted her judgment, but rather simply as her voice of reason he had tried to get her to listen to sense. That rarely worked with her however, and as she ran back up the hill he couldn't do much other than silently thank the heavens that she was safe.

Anna, winded, but excited extended the lid to Kristoff in a gloved hand. "Your turn!" she shouted excitedly once her panting subsided enough to do so. She was red in the face but rife with excitement. The only reason he had agreed to follow her on this little venture was due to her raw enthusiasm over reliving her childhood and of course the fact that if this ended badly, he would be needed to help her.

Kristoff put his hands up defensively. There was no way that he was going to get on that death trap. She could do it all she wanted and he wouldn't stop her, he would beg and plead, but there was no way that he could stop her, just as there was no way that she could persuade him to jump on the thin piece of smooth, varnished, pine and ride it down a hill. "I'd rather not."

Kristoff had, as he always did, underestimated her powers of persuasion. In the end all it took from her to get him on the sled was a sad face and a few bats of eyelashes. He had no idea how she had such control over him, but in all honesty he didn't have much time to think about it as Anna kneeled down behind him, hands on his back, ready to give him the fatal shove.

"Anna I don't know how I feel about this." He said in one final attempt to get himself out of the mess he'd made for himself.

"Nonsense!" Anna said as she smiled a devilish smile, it was bright and cheerful, however Kristoff knew that smile well, it was the 'Kristoff will do whatever I ask when I smile at him smile'. It was the smile that he loved and hated in equal measure, the one that got him in trouble, as well as the one that made all the trouble he got into with her worth it. That was the smile that would one day be the death of him.

"Really Anna, I…" But it was too late, the rest of his words were a garble as he was shoved, perhaps a bit too forcefully down the hill by Anna, who as soon as she shoved him, immediately put a hand over her mouth.

"What have I done?" She asked as she sent her boyfriend sailing through the snow, directly into the path of someone crossing the ice.

Kristoff was too busy screaming his lungs out and holding on for dear life to notice much of anything around him. The wind and snow bit at his face and stung his cheeks. For the speed at which he was moving he could hardly even hear himself shouting. In his mind he cursed his lack of steadfastness when it came to Anna's will, he made note to never join in on one of her dangerous plans again, however even as he thought of it, he knew that it would never happen.

Elsa, who had been looking for her sister for the last hour and a half, extended her hand towards the ground where Kristoff was about to sled directly into her. Having gained much more control of her powers at this point her split reaction was quite well done, freezing the feed lid in place without striking a still screaming Kristoff.

Elsa simply raised an eyebrow at his frightened face, but her calm cool and collected façade burst into a storm of laughter as his face changed from frightened to dumbstruck. She honestly liked having Kristoff around, even if it was sheerly for the kinship she felt for him getting involved in her sister's schemes. Anna had always had a knack for getting even the most serious and level headed people involved in her madness.

"Anna!" Elsa shouted up to her sister as she climbed up the hill. "What on Earth are you doing out here, you know we're entertaining the Duke and Duchess in an hour." Rather than have her sister descend she chuckled again at Kristoff, still sitting in the makeshift sled, before heading up the hill herself.

"Just needed to get a little fresh air." Anna replied back, innocently enough that Elsa saw straight through her.

"Uh huh." She said, looking skeptically at her sister, "And nearly killing Kristoff is your idea of fresh air."

Anna simply shrugged as Kristoff, who had detached the feed barrel top from the ground and was now carrying it, reached the top of the hill with the two sisters. He knew better than to weigh in when the two were speaking as they were, however he did appreciate Elsa's concern for his wellbeing.

Elsa smiled then, her sister would never change, nor did she wish for her to. "Then again an hour is quite a bit of time." She pointed again at the ground and with a moment's concentration she crafted a clear ice sled out of thin air. "And if you're going to do this, you may as well do it right."

And as such a half hour was spent with the three all arriving late, redfaced, and with wet hair to dinner with one of Arendelle's oldest aristocratic families.

Just was able to post as I left my laptop back at school, I'll have it Friday afternoon, but in the meantime I'm writing everything completely from scratch on my parent's old frightening laptop. (No smut for the next few days for those of you who've been hoping). I'll try to be more prompt. And again feel free to send me prompts, I write these daily for the most part so it's never too late to shoot me an idea.


	9. December 9th- One Year

Anna rushed around the castle's kitchen nervously. It had been a year since she had first met Kristoff and had fallen for him, hard. However unlike her unfortunate misstep with Hans, she had been taking the whole relationship with Kristoff far slower. It didn't feel slow, however. It felt like she had just met him yesterday, everything with them was still so new and exciting, and yet it was as if she had known him her whole life. Despite this however she had learned her lesson, and as such even after a year she still wasn't rushing into anything. She was rather planning, thinking and learning day by day what it felt like to truly and completely be in love.

This feeling had led her to want to do something special for Kristoff, he hadn't been around much lately, and despite the fact that he didn't harvest in the summer he had been very busy. She wasn't sure why, but what she did know was that he was going to be back in less than an hour and she had planned to make him dinner.

That was easier said than done however. She had never cooked before and had insisted on doing everything herself. Though this was a romantic idea, making him dinner, it was losing its charm not that she had burned or otherwise destroyed everything she had planned to cook. Her eternal optimism was beginning to wane, and frankly she felt like a failure. She should have asked one of the cooks for help hours ago, but unfortunately it was too late now and the only thing she could do was walk away with her tail between her legs.

"Miss!" A young woman called after Anna as she walked towards the kitchen door in defeat.

Anna sighed and turned around, she really didn't need anyone's pity at the moment. She just wanted to return to her room and the unfinished surprise she had laid for Kristoff there.

"Miss, you left your cake and a casserole in the oven, so I removed them." She looked worried, obviously she was new to the staff. No one that had ever actually served the sisters before was ever nervous around them. After all she and Elsa tried to treat the palace staff like family the best they could. "Would you like me to frost the cake and bring them into the dining room with the casserole or would you like them thrown out?"

Anna's mouth fell open, she had completely forgotten about the casserole and chocolate cake she had been making. She had been so flustered by burning the beef she had been cooking to realize that there was still hope for her meal. "They're not burnt?"

The girl, seeing how surprised Anna was, and noting that it was pleasantly so nodded, "Yes miss I took them out before they were overcooked. You looked busy and I didn't want to bother you."

Anna was awestruck. "I'll take care of the rest, but thank you so much." She was absolutely beaming, her anniversary dinner with Kristoff was not lost, but rather would still go on somewhat as planned. "What's your name?" She danced a little with excitement as she asked, she would have to remember to do something nice for her later.

The girl looked shocked, obviously she had never worked for anyone like Anna before, though no one had truly ever worked for someone like Anna because there simply was no one who was quite like Anna. "Uh it's Penelope miss, Penelope Olsen."

"Well Penelope," Anna said, grinning with the brightest smile she could muster, "you've earned yourself a night off, and if you ever need anything let me know." She opened her arms to the girl, around her own age, and she, though tentatively opened hers too, which Anna took as the okay to go in for a hug. She was a Princess by right and birth, but it was her actions towards those on a social scale below hers that made her truly royal. She never really treated anyone differently based on rank, only on their actions. "Just tell the head cook that the Princess insisted that you get a good night's rest and that you will return in the morning."

The girl looked shocked, but honestly grateful. Never before in her life had she served anyone who was so kindly and generous. It had been a great honor to her family when she was selected to work as a scullery maid for the palace, but she had never imagined it to be such a lovely job to do. The Princess had given her blessing to do as she wished for the rest of the evening, which was still supremely young, and she supposed that she would spend it writing a letter to her mother, father and younger siblings about her new life in the castle and the very friendly Princess of Arendelle.

Leaving Penelope to her own devices Anna ran back into the kitchen to discover the cake set out on a lovely tray with the casserole and two plates beside it with a bowl of frosting not too far off, likely left there by one of the pastry chefs who had watched her first make the cake. Anna beamed with pleasure, the staff all knew what she was doing, she hadn't said a word to them about it, simply asked them to open their kitchen to her, but they had all wanted to help her in their own way while of course keeping their distance. Many of those in the palace had watched her grow up and knew that she liked to do things her own way, and just so in that way. They knew her and she thanked them for it. She thought ahead to the upcoming solstice festival and decided that if Elsa agreed, they would give the entire staff of the palace the night off, after all they were more than capable of cooking, cleaning, dressing, and undressing themselves for one night, especially Kristoff who Anna knew well was a far better cook than she was.

After taking a moment with the thought she focused on the task at hand. The cake was chocolate, small, round and fairly thick. She had planned on making multiple layers, but it was far too late for such a thing now, and rather than waste time thinking of what she could have done, Anna began to frost the cake with the chocolate frosting that had been kindly left out for her. She may not be a stellar cook, but her sweet tooth had given her plenty of opportunities to bake, and as such she was fairly good at frosting cakes.

Before long she was finished and had grabbed one of the wooden carts which the servants often used to transport food, dishes, linens and other necessities around the castle. Upon it she loaded everything she needed and returned to her bedroom knowing that she only had a short time to prepare before Kristoff returned home.

Kristoff arrived at the stables with Sven, feeling very genial. He had finally done it, he had finally done what he had set out to do. As he dismounted and lead Sven into the stables he reached into his pant pocket to run his fingers over the small box that was within. It had taken him an entire year to save up and frankly work up the courage to do so, but he had bought a ring, specifically the ring which he would use to propose to Anna. He wasn't sure when he would do it, of course the plan was for tonight, but like any man he got nervous. He knew what her answer would be, and he knew that Elsa would not be upset with him or Anna as she had been the last time a man proposed to her sister. He knew this of course because he had spent a year with Anna and their mutual love, and she had gone to Elsa a month ago to ask for her blessing, which she had been surprisingly happy to give. Elsa, now beginning to lose some of her more severe social anxiety, had been surprising a lot of people as of late, but that was another story for another time. However despite everything he knew, he was still just as nervous as any other man proposing to the woman they loved.

As Kristoff left the stable and returned to the castle an older man, one of the palace gardeners, let him know that the Princess was awaiting his arrival in her chambers. He thanked the man kindly and the man almost as if he had known everything smiled and muttered something along the lines of "goes get her champ."

Kristoff hearing this, laughed and taking his direction went straight to the stairs that lead up to the palace's third floor, the location of his and Anna's separate bedrooms. Her room was of course the Princess suite, across the hall from his own room which was similarly royal in title as the Prince's chamber. Of course he was hardly a Prince, but when he had agreed to move in Anna had been insistent that he should take the room befitting a royal. Kristoff honestly may have been more aesthetically pleased by one of the much smaller and plainer servant's rooms, but he had to admit that the room did have its perks when it came to being near to hers. If having a large and luxurious room was the only downside of being close to her, he supposed the benefits far outweighed the negatives.

"Anna." Kristoff called, opening her door without taking a moment to knock. He usually would have, but if she was already expecting him there was hardly a point in it. The long thick curtains of her room had been pulled shut and the room was only warmly lit by candle light. When his eyes adjusted to this he closed the door behind him to find Anna sitting alone at a table wearing something that was hardly appropriate for any royal dinner. Her gown was not the current style, long, but form fitting at the top, deeply cut in the neck and chest, with a bottom that flowed out like rivers of satin. It was green, his favorite color, and he could not help but feel as if he were a very lucky fly who had caught himself in a spider's web.

"You look…" He could not find the words, she stood from the table and approached him, at which point he also realized that there were only small cap sleeves on her dress and that obvious by the dress's mostly bare back, that she was not wearing a corset. He took a deep breath, heart beating out of his chest. "Wow."

Anna giggled, ruining what she had been planning as a somewhat sultry and mature approach. She had still planned on taking things slow with Kristoff, but showing off a little bit of skin to let him know exactly what he had gotten himself into could hardly hurt.

Her cheeks were red with a deep blush that Kristoff had already noticed was extending also to her chest. He was a gentleman and as such was trying to maintain eye contact with her at all times, however it seemed that he had lost the custody of his own eyes. They, deciding to no longer be ruled by the blonde mountain man darted along her figure, from her accentuated and one display chest to the curves of her body. He could not keep his eyes off her, which he supposed was her plan.

The candle light only added to her beauty, flickering and glowing to make him see her in shadows and golden light at the same time. She looked like a goddess in every way, and Kristoff simply stood there dumbfounded as she approached and eventually hugged him with all her might.

"I'm so glad you're home." She said excitedly as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "I made us dinner to celebrate."

Kristoff couldn't believe what he was hearing, she had cooked? She could bake, but she had proved herself on multiple occasions to be lacking when it came to actually cooking something that was not a sweet treat. However he knew Anna and he knew that she wouldn't say something like that if it were not true. Noticing the lack of burnt smell in the air, he was already tremendously proud of her and whatever was awaiting them upon the table. However before he got there he knew that now was the time, right in that moment when he was in complete and total awe of her splendor and beauty, it was the time to ask her.

Kristoff fell to his knee before Anna could even figure out what was going on. She watched him reach into his pocket and pull out a small box. That, before he even opened his mouth to speak, was when everything came rushing at her. She had read enough romance novels in the palace library to know what was happening. He was proposing, and after telling herself the entire day that she was going to continue to take things slow until they were both ready, she knew that at the very least she was. She was going to say yes before he even got the words out to ask. And this time it was not because she didn't know what love was, and it wasn't because she was lonely. It was simply because after a year of happiness and hours spent trying beyond all things to show how much she loved and adored him, she knew that she didn't ever want to live without him. It had taken her eighteen years to figure it out, nearly nineteen in a few weeks, but she did love him, honestly, truly, and completely. As such, however she did not answer immediately but rather gave him his moment.

"You are the funniest, most brilliant, and beautiful woman I've ever met. You don't need to answer me right now if you don't want to, and I've already talked to your sister, so my question is Anna, Princess of Arendelle, my feistypants, will you marry me?" As he uttered the final four words he opened the box in his hand.

As Anna watched the small case open she truly was speechless for a moment. The ring he had chosen for her simply made everything a bit more real than even hearing him say anything. It was silver with a small diamond, nothing too fancy, but she didn't need fancy, it was him. "Yes." She said, her lips moving without her mind telling them to. Today they didn't need her mind to speak, they only needed the truth that was in her heart. "Yes Kristoff I would love to be your wife."

She teared up a bit then, thinking of the spectacular year they had spent together. The day they met at Oaken's shop, going together to find Elsa, him coming to save her across the fjord, and every loving day after that. She thought of the way he had brought her back up the mountain in summer, bringing her to a hot spring and teaching her the names of the flowers that surrounded it. She smiled thinking of their first Christmas together where he had told her troll stories about Santa Claus and how he really did exist. Everything about him was simply so perfect for her, and she simply couldn't hold herself back from him. She loved the clumpy way he walked and the grumpy way he talked. Frankly she loved his entirely manly blondness and everything else about him from head to toe. More than anything she was thrilled to be the future Mrs. Bjorgman.

Kristoff was speechless himself, taking a few moments to comprehend that she had actually said yes to him before sliding the ring onto her finger and being relieved that it actually did fit. He had gotten her ring size from one of the maids that took care of purchasing the jewelry and dresses that Anna and Elsa wore to formal occasions, however the maid herself had admitted to the fact that she was unsure which size was Elsa's and which size was Anna's.

Once the ring was securely on her finger Kristoff stood and embraced his fiancé. He held her tight to him with one hand on her waist and the other cradling her neck. Her hair was up in a bun, giving him access to touch her neck without tangles of her long sunset hair getting in his way.

She kissed him without warning, as she often did. She was simply so extremely happy that she could hardly think. In fact she had to remind herself to breathe when the kiss broke.

Kristoff, chuckling at the absurdity of his own worriedness kissed her forehead before looking into her eyes and asking, "So, what now?"

Anna laughed, "Well I did make dinner."


	10. December 10th- The Ball

Kristoff wasn't necessarily pleased as he slipped on the suit jacket he was being forced to wear tonight. He would never get used to wearing dress clothes, and if it weren't for the fact that Anna had practically begged him to come, he would've spent the night in his room. He was expected to be there even though he and Anna were not married. He was not the Prince of Arendelle, and yet their engagement had made it practically so.

Now he was expected to be at every event put on by the palace, he had to be around to entertain guests and speak to people. Never mind the fact that he had no interest in doing so, since he was soon to be the consort of the crown Princess, Anna of Arendelle, beloved by all himself included, he was required to be at tonight's ball. Despite the lessons he had been forced to take on the ways of the aristocracy and generally his duties as the future Prince of Arendelle the single thing that gave him the strength to put on uncomfortable clothes and go to a stuff event was Anna and the smile he knew would undoubtedly be on her face.

Smoothing back his hair and fixing the sash he wore, Kristoff took a deep breath. He knew that this wasn't what he wanted to do tonight, but he knew he had to do it for Anna's sake at the very least. Looking in the mirror he gave himself the peptalk that he would have had with Sven had he had the time to visit the stables before going off to the event. "Look, it's just one night, a few hours. Be what Anna expects, be the Prince she sees instead of the ice harvester you are." He wasn't nervous for Anna however, he was never insecure with her, but at the same time he wanted to make her proud. She had fallen in love with him for him just as she had fallen for her for her, not because she was the Princess of Arendelle or because she was the most beautiful woman he had ever met, but rather because she made him smile and her spirit made his heart soar. He was far from Princely, but for tonight he would try, only to prove to himself and all others that if he didn't belong in the royal world, he did belong with her.

Taking a final inventory of himself before he walked through the door he couldn't help but feel as if perhaps Sven would've been able to give a far better pep talk than he had given himself. When it came to him and his reindeer pal, Sven's faces and actions almost always spoke louder than Kristoff's words.

Anna stood in the hallway awaiting Kristoff's arrival. She wrung her hands and sighed, fluffing her dress and smoothing her hair. She wasn't the type to stress about anything, but honestly she couldn't calm herself down at the moment. She had never had weight on her shoulders before, well at least not like Elsa did, and now she had to introduce her fiancé to the important men and women of Arendelle and beyond. This was the last thing that she had wanted, and Elsa had respected their wishes to keep their love life private. However once the Princess had gotten engaged and the word had gotten out, it was expected by all the dukes, duchesses, lords, ladies, merchants, and foreign powers that they would celebrate. Anna was not ashamed of Kristoff, and she would never be anything but herself and as such she never expected him to act any different than who he was, but these people did and she didn't want to shame Elsa.

The last time they had had a party where Anna had been engaged had ended catastrophically, and though they had both grown a lot since then, she didn't need people drawing unnecessary parallels to that day. Of all the things Anna was, she was not unintelligent, she knew there were those, the scorned Duke of Wesleton or the humiliated Prince Hans, who would do anything that they could to make Arendelle look weak or as if it was run by incompetent or dangerous monarchs. She knew that today, in the public eye, things needed to go right.

She heard the patting of dress boots before she saw him, and as her slender neck turned to face the approaching Kristoff, her worry washed away. He was handsome, as he always was, but somehow tonight he took her breath away. He cleaned up wonderfully, and in ways she could never even begin to explain. Everything about him was royal from head to toe, and if she didn't know him, and know him better than most, she would have confused him for a visiting dignitary. But one thing gave him away, certainly to the second glance, and that was the light in his eyes, the worry and the fascination that Anna saw in his eyes made him different than any stuffy aristocrat she had ever met before.

He touched her bare shoulder and Anna felt the heat of his fingers. It made her melt almost instantly and just his presence was making her feel strong and secure. Royals be damned, if they could not see why she loved Kristoff and what an amazing Prince he would be, hardworking, loving, caring, understanding, and above all someone who lived as a citizen of Arendelle his entire life, Anna believed that they didn't matter. If it came down to dissenters asking questions of her judgment upon her engagement with him, she would gladly renounce her royal title and move to the Mountains with Kristoff. She adored him, and nothing would ever change that.

Kristoff touched Anna softly, once the doors to the grand ballroom opened and they were announced, he knew that he would not have the time to comfort her, or get comfort from her as they both desperately needed. It had only taken him a moment to see the stress in Anna, an emotion he had never truly seen in her before as she was always so confident and brave in front of him, but he didn't judge her for feeling nervous, he was feeling the same way.

"Nervous?" Anna asked, as if she were reading his thoughts, which he didn't doubt. She did know him so well that reading his mind would just be one step further than where they were.

"Yeah." He was honest with her; there wasn't any other way to be because if he lied to her, she would know it. "You?"

Anna knew the answer as soon as he had asked it, but she took a moment to look thoughtful before turning to him and standing up on her tippy toes. "Not since you got here." She brought both her hands to the sides of his face and tugged him down to her level, as even on her toes she could not completely reach him. She kissed him, passionately and with everything she felt for him. It was a kiss of love and a kiss telling him not to worry, that he was everything she wanted and more.

It was in that moment, mid kiss that the doors swung open to reveal their very private moment to hundreds of onlookers, causing them to break apart prematurely to a shocked silence. Anna blushed scarlet as she was forced to face so many slack jawed onlookers, and Kristoff, being as protective as he always was, immediately pulled her to his side, and wrapped her up in his arms. So much for trying to act to the constraints of society, but he would not let anyone before him judge Anna for the kiss they had just shared because frankly he wanted the whole world to know that he was in love with her, and he was not ashamed of that.

Suddenly, however a clapping arose, soft and first, but gaining power throughout the crowd as more and more people joined in, some clapped, others cheered, and some even broke the rules of propriety more by whistling. Kristoff was frankly speechless and a shocked Anna, unhid herself from his side. She was willing to bet that it had been her sister that had saved her, but she was unsure as she saw Elsa, smiling demurely beside a royal couple from across the sea, a couple that had been married years before and a couple that had attended Elsa's coordination.

"Is that?" Anna asked looking in their direction.

"Pretty sure." Kristoff responded breathlessly in shock as they were announced and walked into the room amidst the cheers of the crowd."Well you know they're a bit like us, she's royal, he's common."

"Well there is another difference." Anna said quietly so that only Kristoff could hear her, "If the rumors are true, he was a thief."

Kristoff smiled, running a thumb over the hand he now held, "Well there have been stranger couples."

So I would be lying if I said I hadn't been dying to write a Tangled cameo for months, I saw it before I saw Frozen and as a heart faced, brown haired gal with a pixie cut I do love Rapunzel. What better way to add her in than to have her cheering on the love of Kristoff and Anna. Sorry these posts have been so crazy late, still on my parents laptop sadly, though my very own knight in shining armor should be bringing me my laptop back from University tomorrow. He's literally the best, and now that I'm already getting mushy on you all I have to say that he makes everything I do possible, especially my fanfics. He reads them, although it's hardly his cup of tea, and he corrects my spelling, grammar, and others little oops moments before they get posted. So thank you to all of my followers and readers, and to you Adam, you are the light of my life. 


	11. December 11th- Surprise

**Quick Warning, this one's a little bit PG-13. No sex, but it's implied. Just a little trigger warning for y'all.**

"Where are we going?" Anna asked perhaps for the hundredth time. Kristoff had promised her an adventure today, one like no other, but all she knew was that she had been riding her horse for hours and frankly her rear end was about to fall off for it. She had no idea how Kristoff was not uncomfortable yet, especially riding one of the palace horses bareback, Sven had been left back home for this particular escapade. She sighed, this was the last thing she imagined doing on her honeymoon.

"Like I told you five minutes ago, last time you asked, it's a surprise Anna. Trust me. It'll all be worth it when we get there." He smiled devilishly, facing forward so that she could not see his grin. He did love teasing her as he was, but honestly it would be all worth it in the end. It was quite a bit of a long haul, even from his cabin, where they had decided to spend their honeymoon in seclusion, away from the prying eyes of the capital city. They had both agreed that getting away from the palace was what they wanted for their week long honeymoon, and he honestly loved showing Anna his world. She was having a hard time getting used to it in some respects, but he loved to see her trying. The past couple days had been relaxing and calm, just the two of them and his small homestead.

He had always imagined what it would be like to have Anna at his home, to show her the way of life he had always known, however what he hadn't expected was for it to feel so right having her there. She had never lived anywhere but her castle before, and he before moving to the palace had never lived anywhere but his cabin before. It was refreshing to watch her adjust, just as she had watched him do so. Even if it was only for a week, he was happy to enjoy a simple life with her, just as he had always imagined having when he decided to settle down. As such, this trip wasn't on a whim, it had rather been planned for a very long time.

He was taking her to his favorite place, as he always imagined bringing the person who made him happy. To his knowledge he was the only person who had ever been there and it had always been his special place, a place only Sven had ever visited with him, and now he would bring Anna there.

Anna shook her head, imagining the smile Kristoff was wearing on his face. He was riding just a few meters ahead of her, his hair being tussled every which way by the invisible fingers of the breeze. She tapped a booted foot against the side of her horse, a gentle but speedy mare, and she quickened her pace to ride up by Kristoff. The warm summer breeze licked at her face gently as she rode. It was a warm day, but not too hot. Generally it was the perfect day for a ride, and though she was uncomfortable, she couldn't say that she wasn't enjoying herself. Since she and Kristoff had first announced their wedding it were as if neither of them were allowed the luxury of time alone or even fresh air.

Now that the wedding was over, the cake had been cut and they had been legally wed, Anna was happy to just be alone with her new husband to take in a little mountain air. She also couldn't deny what being in the mountains and just today's ride had done for Kristoff's spirits. He was teasing her once more, sneaking in kisses in any moment he could, and was smiling in a way that she hadn't seen in the months leading up to their wedding day. She could still see the image of him, all dapper in his suit, waiting for her at the end of the aisle. She couldn't help but blush remembering how he had looked even better with it all off.

Kristoff saw Anna's face ignite with a blush as she approached him. She had been doing a lot of that lately, and while he was fairly certain he knew why, he couldn't help but to ask. "What are you thinking about?"

Anna's blush only deepened at the knowledge that she had been found out. As much as she wanted to lie and say it was nothing, there was no benefit to it, and she honestly couldn't lie to him. "The other night." She answered simply, hoping that it would put an end to her embarrassment, but having a feeling that her wish would not be coming true.

Of course Kristoff, who was rather thoroughly enjoying himself, would not allow her to have any such luck. He raised an eyebrow at her. "So you're thinking about…"

Anna, knowing it was simply easier to end the discussion herself cut him off. "Yes I'm thinking about our wedding night, the things we did… together."

Kristoff smiled, "Calm down there feisty pants." He teased, his smile turning compassionate, he hated to upset her. "I've been thinking about it too." The way he said it had nothing on the way he had been doing it. To say the very least, watching his wife ride beside him in some particularly tight riding pants was making him think of a lot of things. It was distracting to say the least and he was certainly thinking. Thinking of the curve of Anna's body, the soft, pale skin that had been bared to him, the way her lips had parted to make noises he had never heard, noises that drove him mad with happiness and pleasure, and of course how willing he would be to repeat the act that very second if she were willing. Now it was his turn to blush.

"Really?" She asked, eyes glowing and lips slightly upturned into a smile. It had been their first and only time together so far, consummating their marriage, but the way he had made her feel, the way she hoped she made him feel, well it was far more than just a legal necessity.

"Yeah, it's hard not to."

Anna smiled fully then, "I know." This was the last thing she said before spurring her horse on to rush forward, past Kristoff.

"Hey!" Kristoff shouted, shocked at her sudden forward charge. "You don't even know where you're going!" He clicked his tongue, indicating to the horse that they needed to catch Anna.

"And whose fault is that?" Anna shouted as she rushed along, laughing with the breeze. Kristoff may not know this about her, but she was quite the excellent horsewoman. As a royal she had been riding before she had been walking.

Kristoff was ready for the challenge however, slowly but surely gaining on her before reigning to a halt with the realization he was exactly where he wanted to be. "Anna!" He shouted forward to his wife who was still rather intent on a race. "You overshot the destination by a bit!"

Anna, seeing the Kristoff had stopped, paused for a moment to ensure that it was not a trick, to lure her back and then gain the lead. However her sore legs and rear were more than happy to believe that she was done riding for now and that was enough to lure her off the horse and back onto dry land.

The pair, regrouping in Kristoff's location, dismounted together and tied up their horses to nearby trees. They were in a clearing surrounded on three sides by trees, and on the fourth by a patchy outcropping of rocks which made up the start of the North Mountain's Eastern side.

"So here?" Anna asked with a smile. She had to admit that the meadow they found themselves in was rather enchanting. It was open and bright, with willow trees acting as a natural fence around it. There were flowers growing in all shapes, sizes, and colors, most of them were her favorites however, daisies. An ocean of soft green grass and rainbow flowers lay before them, but Kristoff was already heading towards the rocks.

"Not quite." He said making his way towards a narrow pathway in the rock. "This is just as far as we can go with the horses." He smiled extending a hand to her before heading up the path, "Here."

Anna took it gladly, there was not enough space between the rocks to walk side by side, and as such there certainly would not have been enough room to transverse it with the horses, perhaps Sven who was skilled with rocky terrain could have made it by some climbing and work, but there was no way a large palace horse could do so.

Kristoff held her hand behind his back. He knew that Anna wasn't necessarily a fan of small enclosed places, and he knew that he needed to keep her calm until the path widened out ahead. Running a thumb over her knuckles and humming as he walked he hoped to save her from claustrophobia.

She knew what he was doing, and she was grateful. She had never liked tight and small places, having been born in a large castle to roam. Of course places like Kristoff's cabin, small but homey, comfortable and open, gave her no worries at all, but stuck between two rocks, that was stressful. She kept her eyes on Kristoff the whole way, reminding herself that he was there for her and that she would be out of the tight space soon.

When the path widened Kristoff did not release Anna's hand but rather kept it tightly within his own, gently pulling her forward to walk beside him. He wanted to see her face once they made it over the next hill. He was hopeful that she would love where they were going just as much as he did.

"Wow." Anna said in absolute awe as they came up to another clearing, this one much smaller, and between rock on all sides, and yet somewhat more breath taking than the last.

"Yeah." Kristoff said with a chuckle, in reality it had been years since he had been there himself, but it was still just as wow as it had been the first day he saw it as a boy. It was a small grassy area with a small body of water within it. It was one of Arendelle's hot springs, and this one was especially beautiful, the rich mineral soil surrounding it causing flowers to grow in staggering quantities and allowing for a lush carpet of nearly emerald green grass.

It was a few of those flowers that Kristoff reached down and picked after releasing Anna's hand. "I found this place when I was six. You should see it in spring when the lilies are in bloom."

Anna smiled, this was definitely worth the trip and oddly romantic of Kristoff. Not to say that he wasn't romantic to begin with, however this certainly took the cake. She was speechless, and more so as Kristoff tucked a few glowing flowers into her hair. This was surely a place of magic. She was sure of it as she was touched by magic in her life every day and yet this still felt magical to her.

After tucking a few flowers into Anna's hair Kristoff walked over to the crystal waters of the hot spring and began to remove his clothes, first his boots, then his socks and shirt until only his riding pants remained. Rolling them up to his knees his sunk his legs into the water, feeling its warmth as he had as a child.

Anna, watching Kristoff removed her boots and socks as well, however she left on her pants, rolling them up as he had, and her shirt, which in reality was his, and as such was very flowy and large on her. It was blue, a color he wore often, and one that accented her eyes. Seeing her looking so natural in his clothes, in his place of magic he decided that she could keep it. He had also decided that with her permission, he wanted to make more of this trip.

"Mmmm." Anna said as her calves sunk into the warm water. It was like a bath, and despite the heat it was pleasant. "That feels so good."

Kristoff smiled, one hand playing with her pinned back hair, the other on the rocks. "It's even better when you get in all the way."

Anna looked down at the water as Kristoff stood. "I didn't bring a change of clothes or I would." She said frowning that Kristoff hadn't told her about this. She understood that he was trying to surprise her, but a little bit of packing warning would have been nice.

It was then that she hear it, the sound of falling fabric. She didn't even have to turn to know what it was, her cheeks immediately turning scarlet.

"I don't see why that's a problem."

Woo that was fun to write! Just a quick survey to see if anyone would like the next installment to be a continuation. It would be a mature fic, and I would label it as such. PM me or comment, or reblog with comment to let me know your opinion. I don't want to make anyone feel alienated or anything by these stories.

"Where are we going?" Anna asked perhaps for the hundredth time. Kristoff had promised her an adventure today, one like no other, but all she knew was that she had been riding her horse for hours and frankly her rear end was about to fall off for it. She had no idea how Kristoff was not uncomfortable yet, especially riding one of the palace horses bareback, Sven had been left back home for this particular escapade. She sighed, this was the last thing she imagined doing on her honeymoon.

"Like I told you five minutes ago, last time you asked, it's a surprise Anna. Trust me. It'll all be worth it when we get there." He smiled devilishly, facing forward so that she could not see his grin. He did love teasing her as he was, but honestly it would be all worth it in the end. It was quite a bit of a long haul, even from his cabin, where they had decided to spend their honeymoon in seclusion, away from the prying eyes of the capital city. They had both agreed that getting away from the palace was what they wanted for their week long honeymoon, and he honestly loved showing Anna his world. She was having a hard time getting used to it in some respects, but he loved to see her trying. The past couple days had been relaxing and calm, just the two of them and his small homestead.

He had always imagined what it would be like to have Anna at his home, to show her the way of life he had always known, however what he hadn't expected was for it to feel so right having her there. She had never lived anywhere but her castle before, and he before moving to the palace had never lived anywhere but his cabin before. It was refreshing to watch her adjust, just as she had watched him do so. Even if it was only for a week, he was happy to enjoy a simple life with her, just as he had always imagined having when he decided to settle down. As such, this trip wasn't on a whim, it had rather been planned for a very long time.

He was taking her to his favorite place, as he always imagined bringing the person who made him happy. To his knowledge he was the only person who had ever been there and it had always been his special place, a place only Sven had ever visited with him, and now he would bring Anna there.

Anna shook her head, imagining the smile Kristoff was wearing on his face. He was riding just a few meters ahead of her, his hair being tussled every which way by the invisible fingers of the breeze. She tapped a booted foot against the side of her horse, a gentle but speedy mare, and she quickened her pace to ride up by Kristoff. The warm summer breeze licked at her face gently as she rode. It was a warm day, but not too hot. Generally it was the perfect day for a ride, and though she was uncomfortable, she couldn't say that she wasn't enjoying herself. Since she and Kristoff had first announced their wedding it were as if neither of them were allowed the luxury of time alone or even fresh air.

Now that the wedding was over, the cake had been cut and they had been legally wed, Anna was happy to just be alone with her new husband to take in a little mountain air. She also couldn't deny what being in the mountains and just today's ride had done for Kristoff's spirits. He was teasing her once more, sneaking in kisses in any moment he could, and was smiling in a way that she hadn't seen in the months leading up to their wedding day. She could still see the image of him, all dapper in his suit, waiting for her at the end of the aisle. She couldn't help but blush remembering how he had looked even better with it all off.

Kristoff saw Anna's face ignite with a blush as she approached him. She had been doing a lot of that lately, and while he was fairly certain he knew why, he couldn't help but to ask. "What are you thinking about?"

Anna's blush only deepened at the knowledge that she had been found out. As much as she wanted to lie and say it was nothing, there was no benefit to it, and she honestly couldn't lie to him. "The other night." She answered simply, hoping that it would put an end to her embarrassment, but having a feeling that her wish would not be coming true.

Of course Kristoff, who was rather thoroughly enjoying himself, would not allow her to have any such luck. He raised an eyebrow at her. "So you're thinking about…"

Anna, knowing it was simply easier to end the discussion herself cut him off. "Yes I'm thinking about our wedding night, the things we did… together."

Kristoff smiled, "Calm down there feisty pants." He teased, his smile turning compassionate, he hated to upset her. "I've been thinking about it too." The way he said it had nothing on the way he had been doing it. To say the very least, watching his wife ride beside him in some particularly tight riding pants was making him think of a lot of things. It was distracting to say the least and he was certainly thinking. Thinking of the curve of Anna's body, the soft, pale skin that had been bared to him, the way her lips had parted to make noises he had never heard, noises that drove him mad with happiness and pleasure, and of course how willing he would be to repeat the act that very second if she were willing. Now it was his turn to blush.

"Really?" She asked, eyes glowing and lips slightly upturned into a smile. It had been their first and only time together so far, consummating their marriage, but the way he had made her feel, the way she hoped she made him feel, well it was far more than just a legal necessity.

"Yeah, it's hard not to."

Anna smiled fully then, "I know." This was the last thing she said before spurring her horse on to rush forward, past Kristoff.

"Hey!" Kristoff shouted, shocked at her sudden forward charge. "You don't even know where you're going!" He clicked his tongue, indicating to the horse that they needed to catch Anna.

"And whose fault is that?" Anna shouted as she rushed along, laughing with the breeze. Kristoff may not know this about her, but she was quite the excellent horsewoman. As a royal she had been riding before she had been walking.

Kristoff was ready for the challenge however, slowly but surely gaining on her before reigning to a halt with the realization he was exactly where he wanted to be. "Anna!" He shouted forward to his wife who was still rather intent on a race. "You overshot the destination by a bit!"

Anna, seeing the Kristoff had stopped, paused for a moment to ensure that it was not a trick, to lure her back and then gain the lead. However her sore legs and rear were more than happy to believe that she was done riding for now and that was enough to lure her off the horse and back onto dry land.

The pair, regrouping in Kristoff's location, dismounted together and tied up their horses to nearby trees. They were in a clearing surrounded on three sides by trees, and on the fourth by a patchy outcropping of rocks which made up the start of the North Mountain's Eastern side.

"So here?" Anna asked with a smile. She had to admit that the meadow they found themselves in was rather enchanting. It was open and bright, with willow trees acting as a natural fence around it. There were flowers growing in all shapes, sizes, and colors, most of them were her favorites however, daisies. An ocean of soft green grass and rainbow flowers lay before them, but Kristoff was already heading towards the rocks.

"Not quite." He said making his way towards a narrow pathway in the rock. "This is just as far as we can go with the horses." He smiled extending a hand to her before heading up the path, "Here."

Anna took it gladly, there was not enough space between the rocks to walk side by side, and as such there certainly would not have been enough room to transverse it with the horses, perhaps Sven who was skilled with rocky terrain could have made it by some climbing and work, but there was no way a large palace horse could do so.

Kristoff held her hand behind his back. He knew that Anna wasn't necessarily a fan of small enclosed places, and he knew that he needed to keep her calm until the path widened out ahead. Running a thumb over her knuckles and humming as he walked he hoped to save her from claustrophobia.

She knew what he was doing, and she was grateful. She had never liked tight and small places, having been born in a large castle to roam. Of course places like Kristoff's cabin, small but homey, comfortable and open, gave her no worries at all, but stuck between two rocks, that was stressful. She kept her eyes on Kristoff the whole way, reminding herself that he was there for her and that she would be out of the tight space soon.

When the path widened Kristoff did not release Anna's hand but rather kept it tightly within his own, gently pulling her forward to walk beside him. He wanted to see her face once they made it over the next hill. He was hopeful that she would love where they were going just as much as he did.

"Wow." Anna said in absolute awe as they came up to another clearing, this one much smaller, and between rock on all sides, and yet somewhat more breath taking than the last.

"Yeah." Kristoff said with a chuckle, in reality it had been years since he had been there himself, but it was still just as wow as it had been the first day he saw it as a boy. It was a small grassy area with a small body of water within it. It was one of Arendelle's hot springs, and this one was especially beautiful, the rich mineral soil surrounding it causing flowers to grow in staggering quantities and allowing for a lush carpet of nearly emerald green grass.

It was a few of those flowers that Kristoff reached down and picked after releasing Anna's hand. "I found this place when I was six. You should see it in spring when the lilies are in bloom."

Anna smiled, this was definitely worth the trip and oddly romantic of Kristoff. Not to say that he wasn't romantic to begin with, however this certainly took the cake. She was speechless, and more so as Kristoff tucked a few glowing flowers into her hair. This was surely a place of magic. She was sure of it as she was touched by magic in her life every day and yet this still felt magical to her.

After tucking a few flowers into Anna's hair Kristoff walked over to the crystal waters of the hot spring and began to remove his clothes, first his boots, then his socks and shirt until only his riding pants remained. Rolling them up to his knees his sunk his legs into the water, feeling its warmth as he had as a child.

Anna, watching Kristoff removed her boots and socks as well, however she left on her pants, rolling them up as he had, and her shirt, which in reality was his, and as such was very flowy and large on her. It was blue, a color he wore often, and one that accented her eyes. Seeing her looking so natural in his clothes, in his place of magic he decided that she could keep it. He had also decided that with her permission, he wanted to make more of this trip.

"Mmmm." Anna said as her calves sunk into the warm water. It was like a bath, and despite the heat it was pleasant. "That feels so good."

Kristoff smiled, one hand playing with her pinned back hair, the other on the rocks. "It's even better when you get in all the way."

Anna looked down at the water as Kristoff stood. "I didn't bring a change of clothes or I would." She said frowning that Kristoff hadn't told her about this. She understood that he was trying to surprise her, but a little bit of packing warning would have been nice.

It was then that she hear it, the sound of falling fabric. She didn't even have to turn to know what it was, her cheeks immediately turning scarlet.

"I don't see why that's a problem."


	12. December 12th- Hot Spring

**Okay so this is a continuation of the previos story "Surprise". WARNING: This contains mature content (sex), so reader discretion is advised. **

Anna's eyes shot to her side just enough that without turning her head she could see the brown fabric of Kristoff's trousers lying beside her. She knew that he was bare, and as much as she wanted to look she forced herself to wait. Also she was forced to wait as she was rather frozen with the shock of what had just happened. She was curious, albeit a bit nervous. She had seen him naked before, but only in the darkness of the cabin, with no candles or lanterns lit, but rather only the starlight through a small window illuminating his bareness.

Kristoff walked towards Anna, bare and proud. He never had any worries about his body. He had no issue with his image. He was natural, just like the rock that surrounded him, and knowing already that Anna loved him, that they were wed and she would have no objections to his nakedness, he walked towards the warm clear water of the hot spring.

Anna saw him as he approached the water, her cheeks flared red and hot as flames as she caught his figure in the light. He was perfect, but not the kind of perfect that she read about in books or heard about in hushed giggles and whispers from young maids, rather he was her kind of perfect. He was broad and muscular, but not overly toned. He was the kind of muscular that a man got by working hard long days and eating a steak and potatoes diet, not the lean and trim muscular one got from practicing fencing in the court yard every day. She grinned like an idiot as her eyes wandered over his chest and stomach, but as he got into the water it was his back that faced her. It was just as strong and muscular as his chest and stomach, as were his broad shoulders and arms. Her eyes darted to the scars down his back that she had never asked about, and down to the curve of his ass. At this point she was of course tomato red, wondering why on earth she hadn't taken more time previously to explore his physique.

Kristoff watched Anna's blush as he passed her, but did not turn to face her fully until he was about chest deep in the water. This was the deepest point of the spring, towards its center, and he sighed as the water covered him on every surface below his bare shoulders. With a sound of splashing water he lifted his right arm and smiled, flexing a finger for her to come join him. He wanted to see her, he wanted to see everything he had missed in the dark.

Anna, still red watched as Kristoff beckoned her, she knew that he held zero judgment for her but still there was some innate self-conscious shyness left inside her. That maybe in the light of day the freckles on her chest were too bold, that he wouldn't like the thumb sized birthmark on her lower back. Maybe her chest was too small, her hips too broad, or maybe she had missed a few hairs shaving that, being red, would certainly catch enough light to be noticeable. She took a deep breath and looked at her husband again. She could do this. She could do this for him.

Kristoff watched as Anna nervously unbuttoned the shirt she wore, which was his, and as her fingers fumbled to undo each button Kristoff stepped towards her. She was still seated on the water's edge, legs in the water, and as he stepped to where she was the shallower water only covered him to just below his stomach. The breeze, though warm, was cooler than the water and chilled him slightly, but it was worth it.

He reached out his hands to her, putting them atop hers while looking her in the eyes. "May I?" He asked, ensuring she answered before he did anything. He was big on getting her consent for such acts. He never wanted her to feel as if she were being forced into anything.

Anna struggled to find her voice. His fingers were rough and wet on hers, and just the slight touch, while looking at him nude was enough to drive her wild. "You may." She said softly, almost inaudibly as she looked down his stomach. Water was beaded on him and was running from just below his shoulders back to the water below from whence it came. Following one rogue drop from his collarbone she followed in down his stomach, to his belly button, and the trail of dark blonde hair below it, leading to something she knew was there, something obscured by the rippling water.

Kristoff worked slowly, letting her say no if she wanted to, while undoing each button. Her hands fell away from the pursuit herself and to the damp strong shoulders before her. She braced herself on him, feeling his warmth and massaging his shoulders with her fingers as he used his to undress her.

Anna made a soft, happy noise as Kristoff's fingers brushed against her skin. He hadn't meant to touch her quite yet, but just the light, unplanned touch was making her feel things, warm things that felt like shivers. She remembered the last time he had made her feel that way, and Kristoff watched as the blush that was already on her cheeks spread to her corseted chest. Just watching her react to him was causing the same feeling in Kristoff. He felt warm and he knew that he was blushing like her, perhaps less so, but he was. He was also beginning to feel something occur that was rather different yet akin to the heat he felt.

As he finished unbuttoning her shirt, his hands fell away and her hands released his shoulders. Something inside Anna had begun then to feel much more confident, and she pulled her legs from the water in order to stand up on the rocks and finish the process. He had handled her so gingerly, and with such care that she no longer was worried about baring herself before him. Without thinking much about it she slowly removed her shirt and let it fall atop a nearby rock. Then she reached behind herself to tug at the lacing of the corset she was wearing. It was white, with equally pale lace around the top, showing further just how red her blush was. She did not care however. She simply wanted it off, but not so badly that she undid it quickly. Something in her wanted to give him a show, to let him watch her undress completely, she wanted to see in his eyes exactly how he felt as each layer fell away.

Kristoff saw the lacing of her corset come undone, and then watched her slowly but surely unclasp the front. Her fingers weren't shaking now, and he could see that she was not scared anymore. He would have sighed in relief from that point, he always wanted her to feel comfortable around him, but at the moment he was too busy watching fabric fall away from her body to explore his feelings of relief.

The last thing to go was her trousers, which Kristoff noted with pleasure was the only thing separating his eyes and her ass. He smiled as his eyes wandered over her skin. She was pale as snow, and he was pleased to see the freckles that he had loved so on her face extended on past that. He saw every inch of her skin, every hair, every birthmark, and he loved it. She was so perfect in his eyes, like a red haired angel. He could not believe his luck that he had married her, and as he extended his hand, once more, to help her into the water, he found himself even luckier than he had thought even seconds before.

Anna walked back towards him, and in only a few steps forward she reached up to completely unpin her hair. It fell around her shoulders in waves of sunset, and as she tucked a piece of it behind her ear, she knew that this was what she wanted. She wanted him, here and now in the light of the sun, in the warmth of water. She had never imagined herself as the overly adventurous sort when it came to love let alone making love, but with Kristoff she would adventure anywhere.

He helped her into the water gently and embraced her as soon as she entered. She was warm, even in the warmth of the water, and touching her damp and completely bare skin caused his already hardened manhood to respond with a jerk. He knew by the look in her eyes that she had felt it against her, but she did not seem displeased and as such neither was he. Wrapping his arms around her completely and protectively he brought her to the deepest part of the spring. It would have been just over her head if he had not lifted her slightly, body made buoyant and even easier to lift than usual by the water. It was there that he kissed her, softly but passionately upon her lips. She, arms around his shoulders, responded by wrapping her legs around him tightly, and moving one hand up to tousle his slightly dampened hair.

"Anna." He breathed as the kiss broke, more quickly than he had anticipated. "Do you…" He couldn't find the words he wanted. It was called so many different things, sex, love making, fucking. But none quite fit for what he wanted. Making love was the closest, but it still was not what he wanted to say.

"Be with you?" She asked. Knowing that he meant it in a sexual way. Her answer was of course yes, but she needed them both to be on the same page. She respected him as equally as he respected her.

Kristoff nodded, that terminology seemed to fit well for what he was asking. Of course he knew that she wanted to be with him, they had wed for that purpose, but to ask it in that manner it was the perfect way to ask if she wanted to be with him in that moment, completely, biologically and in such a soul joining way.

Anna kissed his cheek and ran a hand through her own wet hair before replying. "Yes, right now more than anything."

Kristoff smiled again, kissing her hard while moving to slightly shallower water. He was ready, as was she. While they were still mostly under water Kristoff ran his now free hands over Anna's legs. They were tightly wrapped around him, but it didn't stop him from running his hands all over them. They were smooth and soft beneath his calloused fingers and as his hands reached from the back of her thighs around to the curve of her perfect ass he heard her moan lightly. Again, she was ready.

Not necessarily having much sexual experience himself Kristoff cupped Anna's ass and lowered her on his body slightly out of instinct, Anna letting her nature drive her as well wrapped her arms again around his shoulders, understanding fully what they were about to do.

Kristoff touched her beneath the water in her most private place. Everything he did with her and she with him was slow and deliberate for a multitude of reasons, but three were the most important. One because they wanted to ensure the other could say no, two because they were still somewhat new to exploring themselves and each other, and three because they wanted to make the moment last between them. They wouldn't have this sort of freedom back in Arendelle and neither wanted to waste a single feeling, a single moment of touch before they had to return.

Anna, moaning out in the pleasure of his touch, reached a hand down to make him feel the same. Her slender fingers wrapped around his manhood lightly, to which he replied by letting out a throaty moan in return. Being so tight to him and in the water she felt the vibration of his chest travel through her, and liking the way it felt, she continued touching him as he touched her until a point at which she could no longer take the need that was consuming her, the need to have him inside her, the need to be with him completely.

Kristoff felt the same way and as Anna's hand released him, he withdrew his digits from her. "Are you ready?" He asked his voice deep and husky.

Anna, replacing her hands on his shoulder as he returned his on her ass, tucked her head into his neck to further their closeness before murmuring a soft, but meaningful "Please." Into his skin.

Kristoff, smiling at her and loving the feeling of her against his skin maneuvered her, with her assistance so that he could push himself inside of her.

The first thrust had Anna already feeling things she had never before imagined. Having him inside her beneath the warm crystal waters of the hot spring was something entirely different than having him inside her in bed. "Kris!" She shouted, lifting her face from his neck, "Mmmm, stay like that, please, just for a minute."

He did as she asked, enjoying the feeling of her tightening around him as she began to roll her hips on his, grinding into him, feeling the way his cock felt within her at different angles. He could have finished by her just doing that, but he knew they both wanted more. He let her take the reins though. They were both practically weightless within the water, but that just meant he was nearly toppled by her as she unexpectedly began to thrust her hips. "Uhhh." He moaned, "Anna!" She would be his undoing. He knew that from the moment he first felt feelings for her, but now that they were wed and doing such incredible things together he knew it was true, and he loved every moment of it.

Taking her lead Kristoff began to thrust in and out of his red haired love, the water making it surprisingly easy, but waving, rippling, and splashing around them as they did so. They worked together, as both of their stubbornness wouldn't allow one or the other to do all the work. However it was hardly a bad thing, it was like singing a duet, and they made the most beautiful music together. Their movements after a few moments were entirely in sync, and their moans and pants were only interrupted by Anna's occasional joyous laughter.

She had laughed before when they had made love, it was a joyous noise, not a judgmental one, and Kristoff was not sure if he had ever heard anything more beautiful, expect perhaps when she got close and began to whimper his name from her mouth.

"Kris!" She said again, this time of higher pitch due to her need and their motion. "Kris please… I'm so… I'm so…"

"I know." He said, going as hard as he could, "Me too." He wasn't sure how long he could continue to hold back, but one thing was for damn sure. Even if she didn't finish before he did, he would do everything in his power, tired or not, to see her pleased.

"I'm gonna." She moaned, but he already knew, he could feel it.

"Anna!" He groaned as he released with her. It felt to right, and as she moaned out his name they together entered a state of euphoria and pleasure the likes of which neither had experienced before.

Anna, still mildly coherent wondered to herself if sex was the sort of thing that got better with practice. She certainly hoped so, seeing their improvement from last time she could hardly wait to try again. They stayed together, completely and utterly even as the feeling subsided. Anna could hardly bear it as he pulled himself from her, she loved the closeness, the way it felt to be completely his and have him be completely hers.

Despite how tired he felt, Kristoff scooped Anna up in his arms so that she was floating in the water yet was wrapped in his strong arms. She looked like a goddess in her post coital glow with light streaming upon her, the few flowers that had still been in her hair floating off around her. Kristoff remembered old stories of pixies and nymphs who would take the shape of beautiful women to trick men into trading their souls for their love. He lifted Anna slightly, kissing her forehead gently. He would give her his heart and soul any day, in fact if she ever wanted them he would tell her that they were already hers, that they had been from the moment she had tried to climb a mountain herself.

Anna looked at Kristoff with admiration in her eyes, and saw it reflected back in his. She teared up a little, but smiled at him beautifully. She felt like crying, though she wasn't sure why. He was perfect, and she loved him, she always had and always would. He saw her for who she was, not for any title or rank or any other unimportant thing. She knew that he was a godsend, and as his lips touched her forehead she began to silently cry, still smiling at him.

As Kristoff lowered Anna once more he noted the tears in her eyes but he did not need to ask why they were there, she was smiling and he knew that she would tell him if anything were wrong. He knew exactly what she was feeling and teared up a bit as well, walking to a place within the water that he could sit down, but still hold her tight. "I love you." He said calmly, softly, and with all the meaning he could ever put into words. "I love you today, I love you tomorrow, I love you always."

Anna watched as he teared up as well. And laughed softly, "I love you too Kristoff. You're my everything."

Once the soreness had subsided for them both, they left the water for dry land, neither replaced their pants, but only their shirts, lying beside each other atop their remaining clothes in the lush grass, watching clouds with hands clasped.

Sorry couldn't help myself, I read through the cosmo site today and had a little bit too much fun with this, haha. Hope you guys enjoyed it, sorry if it wasn't really what you were expecting. 


	13. December 13th- Ice Skating

"Kristoff, please I don't want to." Anna pleaded with the mountain man as he led her to one of the smaller lakes which he would harvest later in the week. The ice was plenty thick, and when Kristoff had suggested they go out to the ice, Anna had been happy to get out of Arendelle's city and up into the mountains, she loved being there, especially with Kristoff. Even when the cold winter breeze licked and nipped at her nose, her heart was warm with Kristoff's affections and truly that was all she needed. However she had been less enthused in the past few minutes after Kristoff had pulled both of their ice skates from Sven's saddle bag.

"Anna, you told me yesterday you wanted to learn." He wouldn't force her to skate, but he knew that she honestly did want to learn. She was just being shy, something he saw so rarely from her it nearly bowled him over with the shock of it.

Taking the pair of white ice skates he handed her. It was the pair she had gotten as an early Christmas gift from Elsa. She had planned to ice over the courtyard soon to serve as an ice rink for the citizens living in and around the castle, she was slowly but surely beginning to understand her subjects, and though she didn't always know how, she wanted to please them. Unlacing the skates Anna frowned lightly, but knew that Kristoff was right. She did want to learn, but in truth she was just afraid of falling. She hated the thought of slipping again and again out on the ice. However the thought of his help, and him lifting her up each time she fell down, was rather appealing. She sighed and sat down upon a fairly snowless rock, pulling off her boots and replacing them with the skates. "I do. It's just been a long time since I really ice skated." She of course wasn't counting the most recent time she had skated, as Elsa had helped her stay standing the entire time. Before that the last time she had gone skating was when she was five years old. When her parents had closed the gates and Elsa had retreated to the solitude of her bedroom she hadn't been able to do much for winter activities and sports.

Kristoff understood her worries, but he knew that this would in the end be fun for her. Putting on his more beat up old leather skates, lacing them tightly, he smiled at her. It wasn't a normal plain smile, but rather the sort of smiled that told her not to be afraid, the type of smiled that said he had her back every step of the way.

Anna, finishing the lacing of her skates returned Kristoff's smile, standing up and walking towards the ice as he did the same mere feet behind her. She tried to get used to the feeling as well as she could before she got out onto the ice. Her feet were tied tightly into the beautifully crafted skates, and looking down at them she recalled their similarity to her childhood skates. She was certain that Elsa, the Queen of not only Arendelle but also of memory and little touches, had remembered this when having them made. Anna smiled, confident in her memories of skating as she stepped out onto the ice for the first time in over a year.

Kristoff watched as Anna's skate met the ice, but he could not react in time before she fell down entirely. Less than a second was all it took for her to put her foot on the ice and fall onto her rear. Kristoff normally would have laughed, teasing her for her usual clumsiness in the sweetest and most charming way possible, but she had fallen hard. "Anna!" He shouted, rushing forward to her, falling to his knee beside her, "Anna are you alright?"

Her eyes were full of tears as she looked up. She was in shock, how had it been that in one second she had landed herself on the ground? How did it even happen? The last thing she remembered was standing up, walking, thinking of her childhood skates confidently, and now she was on her rear end on the ice at the very edge of the frozen lake.

Kristoff saw the tears in her eyes, her face turning from a face of utter shock to one that looked as if she were about to cry. He chided himself for taking her out to the lake, she had just said a few minutes before that she didn't want to learn to ice skate, and now she was on the ice, probably in pain. She hadn't answered him, and he was about to ask her again if she were alright when tears started to roll down her cheeks. She began to laugh.

Anna saw the look of shock on Kristoff's face as she started to giggle and it made her laugh harder. She was laughing, of course, at her own failure. She hated to fail, just like anyone else, however she didn't let one fall stop her, and she knew that the best thing she could do was shake it off. "Wow, that was dumb." She said as she laughed, reaching a hand out to Kristoff to let him help her up. "And now my butt hurts."

Kristoff, helping her up to her knees, then to her feet started to laugh as well. There was no breaking Anna at least it was hard to do so physically and certainly it was impossible to break her in spirit. "No," He said as he held her waist supportively before slowly bringing them out further from the ice's edge "actually what you did was pretty smart. You almost feel correctly which was what I was going to teach you first."

Anna smiled, "Well at least I remembered something."

Kristoff laughed, "Well almost anyway. You did a good job trying to fall back and take the fall on your hip and backside. That's where your body is really built to take a fall. You landed on you back a little that time which is dangerous, so try to go more on your butt or hip. If you go down hard that way, you'll get a bruise, but that's about it. If you're falling forward, let yourself slide forward on your knees. The slide takes away some of the force. Or if you're falling forward you can always try to go sideways as you fall, so that you catch yourself on your butt." This wasn't the first time he had taught someone to ice skate, after all ice was his life, if he couldn't skate on it what kind of ice master and deliverer would he be?

"Can I let you go for a second to show you?" He asked, releasing a bit on her waist where he had been holding her to ensure that she could stay upright while he demonstrated for her.

Anna nodded, though she wasn't sure how long she could stay standing without his help. She tried to stay entirely still as he released her. She did miss the pressure of his mitten covered hands on her waist the moment that he let go, but she was happy for his teaching, even if only to watch him skate around on the ice.

"Okay." Kristoff said making sure Anna was steady before taking off. He kicked off first going out, before turning slightly so that she could see well. He had been skating for years, and he wasn't actually going to fall unless he forced himself to, so he just went down on his knees, knowing it would be uncomfortable, but feeling the need to show her before she fell again and actually hurt something more important than her rear end.

Anna noted that he even fell gracefully on the ice, surprising for his large figure, but she could tell he was plenty practiced. She grinned as he got up again and skated back towards her, this time falling back on his butt before standing again and skating back directly towards her. Panicking, Anna lost her balance and fell backwards, this time firmly on her bottom as Kristoff slid to a stop directly where she had been standing.

"Good, you did it right that time." He said smiling, obviously this had all been part of him plan.

Anna pouted and stood back up with his help before he started off again, this time with her. She was moving only by his force and directly forward, he was moving slowly, and his touch made her smile, even though part of her wanted to yell at him for scaring her.

"Okay now we'll try to get you going a little bit." He slowed even further and pulled himself in tight behind her so that she could feel his motion. He, being behind her could not see her blush, something that Anna was thankful for. He was right near her ear as he spoke, and she could feel his warm breath against the bare part of her neck that was left uncovered by her hat and scarf, she was grateful that she had not worn a hooded cape as she had originally planned.

"Find your center." He said softly, "You need to get balanced first."

Anna shifted lightly, somewhat back into him and she transferred some of her weight to her left foot rather than her right. Feeling for the first time balanced since getting out on the ice she stiffened, wanting to keep that position.

She felt one of Kristoff's hands leave her waist to touch her lower back. Even through layers of fabric she melted a bit into his touch, apparently, again what he had planned. "Yeah, that's it, don't stiffen up, be natural. If you're too stiff it just makes moving harder."

"Now put your arms out." He said, still holding on to her tightly but beginning to move at a more rhythmic pace. "Okay now put your weight on your weak foot, your left, and push out with your right at an angle."

Anna did as he asked in relative sync with him and for some reason it just felt natural to her.

"Yeah, just like that." Kristoff said grinning, "Just make sure you always go blade first, don't let the pick dig in first it'll throw off your balance." As they slid along in that way Kristoff kissed her neck lightly. It would be a while before he could let her go completely, though he wasn't completely sure he wanted to release her at all. It was strangely intimate to move across the ice with her so close to him. He was so proud of her, and was happy that with all he was learning about her world, he was able to teach her a small thing or two about his.


	14. December 14th- The Past

His hands were rough and strong in hers, holding tightly onto her as she was onto him. This was always tough for her, he knew it. He felt the sympathy that few could; he knew her pain, though differently.

She could hardly bear it sometimes, even just to visit the standing stones in the green knoll meant that it was true, that it had happened and nothing could change it. To stand before the rocks engraved with the crest of Arendelle meant that her parents were gone and that they could never come back. Her eyes were already full of tears, this was the first time since the funeral itself that she had visited the stones. The last time she had been before them she had felt alone, in fact she had buried her parents alone, despite the sea of onlookers and mourners. She had been without her sister, and even now with her back in her life, the pair had yet to visit the stones together.

She would come with Elsa one day, when the time came, but not today. Today was the day Anna knew she had to visit the stones with Kristoff. Freshly engaged she knew that now was the time to visit again.

Kristoff squeezed her hand even tighter in his own as she began to cry. He wanted to pull her into his arms and to take her away from this place which caused her so much pain, but he knew that he could not. He knew that despite the way it broke her heart she wanted to stay.

Anna walked further towards the stones and kneeled down, Kristoff, still unwilling to release her hand, knowing how badly she needed him, fell to his knees as she did. He supposed that whether or not she did, he should. These were his fiancé's parents and the late rulers of the land he loved, alive or dead they deserved his respect.

"Mom…" Anna said with a choked sob, "Dad, this is Kristoff." She looked from the ground to the stone to the sky. She wasn't sure of which direction to speak in. Her parents were not buried here in truth. The bodies that had once been her parents were never recovered but she had interned empty coffins below the dirt. She decided the sky was best because surely, despite their missteps with Elsa, they were in heaven.

She took a deep breath and tried to make the tears stop flowing with relative success. "He saved my life." She said with tear choked laughter, they would have liked him. "And we're going to get married."

Kristoff took the hand not in hers and put it atop her hand, trying to sooth her somewhat by running his thumb back and forth across the back of her hand. He hated to see her cry, but he was somewhat happy of the trip. It gave a sense of finality to their wedding plans. He and Anna had told Elsa, Sven, Olaf, Bulda and all the trolls, but before announcing it to the kingdom as a whole they knew that there was more family they needed to tell.

"You guys would like him. He works hard." She paused for a moment, regaining some semblance of control over her own emotions before moving closer to him, tucking her head into his chest, and continuing. "He has a reindeer named Sven and he plays a lute. I actually smashed his old one when we were running from wolves, as well as a bunch of his other stuff, but I replaced it all… and you know how clumsy I am anyway." She smiled. Her talk was beginning to get silly, but some bit of comfort was creeping back into her bones, something she hadn't felt in a very long time when anything involved her parents.

Kristoff smiled too, the pair staying for a while longer before agreeing that it was time to return to the palace.

"That must have been hard." Kristoff said, holding Anna's hand again but now far more gently.

"It was in the beginning, but then I started talking about you and it got better."

Kristoff smiled softly before returning to a deeper and compassionate look, staring into her eyes meaningfully. "Not just today, I mean losing your parents like that."

Anna looked down, he understood her in ways no other man ever could, and she knew that he only meant to comfort her. "It was. I mean I had no one after they died because Elsa was hiding away and she was the last living relative I had." She kicked a rock with her shoe as they walked. "There wasn't really any closure to help because they hadn't even discovered the bodies or even the ship." She frowned, "Sometimes I think that they're still out there somewhere, just trying to get home."

Kristoff stopped quickly. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead gently, pushing back her hair. "I thought that for a long time too. After my Mom died I thought maybe my Dad was okay, that he was just out working somewhere." He paused for a moment before rethinking and changing the subject, "But this isn't about me, I'm sorry."

Anna was in shock. Kristoff never brought up his birth parents or what happened to them. She was honestly flabbergasted by his sudden mention of them, especially their death. "No, it's okay." Anna said, pulling her hands up to touch either side of his face, "You can talk about them. I want to know." She kissed his chin as when he stood tall it was all she could reach, "I mean only if you want to talk about it."

Kristoff sighed, looking down at the red headed beauty in his arms. He had already wanted to tell her, he had wanted to tell her before they were even engaged, but it was painful. Now was the time and he knew it. She had shared her pain with him, and now it was his turn to allow himself to hurt before her.

Walking over off the path back into the city Kristoff sat in a patch of short grass with Anna sitting down beside him. It was something of a long story, and he wanted to be sure that they were both seated and comfortable as he told it. "Well I was seven years old when it happened." He began slowly. "My father was an ice harvester and my mother was a seamstress, he hadn't been home in a few nights and my mother was worried, but we went to bed that night without him like we did the nights before. It was a blizzard so we just figured he was up at camp late." He felt uncomfortable. He hadn't shared the story with anyone other than the trolls since he was a small child. It was somewhat frightening to share it after such a long time, like saying it would make the pain worse, but as Anna grabbed his arm with both of her hands, holding it tightly, he knew he could go on. If anyone would understand his hidden pain it was her.

"I smelled smoke in the night and my Mom was screaming for me to get out. The chimney hadn't been swept and it had caught fire…" He paused, remembering the heat of the flames, the smell of the smoke, the horrifying red light that had consumed his childhood home fourteen years before. "Mom said she was behind me, but when I got out of the door I looked for her, I watched and a neighbor was already out there, he wouldn't let me go back in, but I wanted to. Anna I was so afraid, and…"

Her grip on his arm tightened, she had never seen him so worried and scared in the entire time that she had known him. He was slipping back into the feelings of that night, and she supposed that it was no wonder that he had never shared it with her before. It sounded like an extremely traumatic experience.

Kristoff felt himself losing it, he felt the tears welling in his eyes, and he took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing. "Everyone around was coming to help, even in the blizzard outside they were trying to bring buckets of water and wet blankets to douse the fire, but they couldn't put it out, and the house fell in before anyone could get my mom." He was silent for a minute or so after that.

"I'm so sorry." Anna said softly, letting one hand leave his arm to go to his face. She touched him gently, trying to express through her skin all the things she could not explain with her words. She wanted him to find comfort in her touch, she wanted to make sure he knew she was there, that he didn't have to continue, that she wished she could have been there all those years ago, as a four year old girl, to ease his pain.

He smiled, but it was still pained, "It's okay." He said softly.

"No it's not." Anna replied. She knew what okay was, and having to deal, every day with the pain from losing one that you love was not okay.

He smiled then again, more genuinely. She understood him in ways no other living being could. "My father never came back home and I was sent to an orphanage that I left when I turned eight. I guessed that my Dad didn't know where I was and I knew he was an ice harvester, so as soon as the lakes turned to ice I left the orphanage and headed for the lake my father used to work on. Ends up he had fallen through the ice the night the house burned down. They never found him." He shrugged, though Anna could see he was hurt. "We never had a funeral or anything for him. I don't even remember what either of them looked like. They had one for my Mom but I was already in the orphanage and we couldn't afford a stone so I don't even know where she was buried."

Anna knew the pain of not knowing the final resting place of a parent. "You know they had to keep records on it." She said softly, her mind taking control over her mouth before she even planned to speak at all. "There was a law passed when my Grandpapa was King that said all burial plots and their occupants must be formally recorded and listed." She couldn't believe that something she learned about Arendelle's history in her stuffy childhood tutor lessons had actually paid off. "If you know the cemetery I can sanction the records and we can find where she is as long as they followed the rules." She was shocked with her own thoughts and how honestly useful they were. "We could get a stone."

Kristoff kissed her. He could not find words for how he felt as she spoke. She was the most amazing woman he had ever met, and he was so happy, whether or not anything involving his mother panned out, that they had had this conversation today. He was just thrilled that they both knew the other a little better. "Anna, just that idea is the best gift I've ever been given." He kissed her again, and beside herself she laughed.

"Does that mean I should take back the new boots I bought you as a wedding gift?"

So this is my version of Kristoff's back-story. I'm not sure if Disney ever released anything official about this or if anything ever came up in OUAT, but this is my thought on the matter. I'd love to hear some opinions on the matter.


	15. December 15th- Bracelet

"Where did you learn to do that?" Anna asked gleefully as Kristoff's capable hands tied a thick leather bracelet to her wrist. It was made of thin strips of leather cord, woven, stretched, and twisted into one bracelet. It was just a little bit too long for her wrist, but it held comfortably tight to Anna's wrist once Kristoff tied it on.

Kristoff shrugged, "It's just one of those things you teach yourself I guess." He replied. There had been plenty of nights he spent up in the mountains, whether outside camping out or in his cabin where he had little more to entertain himself than strips of leather and scraps of cord. He had been twisting and braiding them as practice for rope work since he was a child, so it was nothing new for him to be creating with his hands.

She smiled broadly, "Well I've never seen anything like it before." His hand left and so she replaced it with her own, feeling the smooth leather beneath her fingers, twisting the bracelet and thinking about how the gift was just so uniquely him. She decided in that moment that it was her new favorite piece of jewelry. All the silver, gold and precious gems in Arendelle could not outweigh this simple gift of leather. This was of course because she loved him and he loved her. They both knew it, but neither had said it, yet. They were trying to take that path slow. Of course they had already kissed, and not just once, but many times. They hugged and snuggled and talked, but love, well love was something they had yet to discuss. It was coming though; it was soon to be, even in a moment. Anna wanted to do nothing more than to scream it from the top of her lugs, but she would wait. She wanted him to say it. She wanted this overwhelming adoration to be given a name by him.

"Well I just thought you might like it." He said trying hard to hide the grin that he felt coming on that the first moment of her praise. He tried not to get too excited, he tried to stay relaxed. They had only been together for a couple of months and for her sake he didn't want to rush things. She was the only woman he had ever fallen in love with, but he didn't want to scare her away. Playing off the gift as something small was his way of saying I really like you but this isn't a marriage proposal and it's not I love you even though I really want it to be. It was his way of not rushing into things, his way of introducing her to his feelings slowly but surely. In every way this was him trying his damnedest not to be Hans. "It's literally the least I can do after all you and Elsa have done for me, what with the sled and everything."

Anna laughed, "You know we more than owed you that sled to begin with being that, well I kind of destroyed your last one in a fiery explosion."

Kristoff shook his head and raised an eyebrow, "Yeah I haven't forgotten, but still you both went above and beyond and well Sven and I both appreciate it."

Anna grinned; she had a plan, a way to make him make the first move here. "So you appreciate what we did for you, but you made me a bracelet. I don't really control much, it's Elsa you should be thanking."

Kristoff gulped, he had meant the bracelet to be a sweet gesture, nothing too forward, but he had wanted it to be enough of an advance to let her see that he wanted to go beyond occasional kisses and being close. "Well." He said trying to save himself from the hole he had accidently dug, he would never understand women. "Elsa isn't my girlfriend."

Anna tried hard not to squeal with excitement, but Kristoff saw her smile. She tried to recompose herself to moderate success before asking, "And I am?"

Kristoff wished he could just drop the shovel and ask for a ladder, but that was so rarely an option with Anna that even trying was a waste of his time. Had they never really discussed this before? Had they truly been kissing, hugging and cuddling up together for months without putting a word to it? He sighed deciding that a leap of faith was all he could hope for. "Well I uh, thought so anyway."

Anna saw Kristoff turn cherry red, something new for her. She had seen him blush before, especially when she kissed him with a surprise attack, but never quite like this. "Uh huh… well I never remembered being asked." She was having too much fun. It was far too often that she was on the teased end and he the teaser, so a little revenge felt better than Anna would ever admit.

Kristoff knew he had been defeated. It was getting to all or nothing time now. She would be his undoing, the death of him in a way he hoped was figurative rather than literal. However with Anna he assumed it could go either way.

For a moment he looked away from her crystal blue gaze, her cheeks were pink with excitement and her eyes glittered with glee. He couldn't help but smile despite himself when he saw her like that so he was forced to look away. "Anna, would you like to go out with me?"

Anna smiled and put a hand up to her ear, "What was that, I couldn't hear you?"

Kristoff shook his head, meeting her gaze this time. Her face was now contorted into the most evil grin he could ever imagine. It wasn't quite like the face of one who had gotten away with murder, but rather a naughty child who had stolen sweets from a candy bowl and their parents thought it too cute to punish. He supposed that perhaps she had perfected such a look in that very way.

"Will you go out with me?" He said again, this time louder and looking at her. He watch as her expression softened slightly and he felt somewhat of a rush from it. He liked to see her reaction to him, especially because although he was unsure, it seemed to be positive.

Anna looked into the chocolate eyes across from her; they reflected the light from the windows of the library where they were currently seated. His face was expectant though she knew that he already knew the answer deep down. She couldn't help herself but ask however, "Why?"

Kristoff didn't miss a beat, all or nothing, he had promised himself as much. He didn't want to rush her, but she had asked and he was getting sick of hiding it, and he was fairly certain that she was as well. "Because I love you, that's why!"

She didn't even take a moment to process the words, she just understood the moment they left his lips, perhaps even before, maybe she had known from the very first syllable. She pulled him forward and kissed his lips passionately. They were rough on hers, always chapped, but not badly. He tasted of carrots and birch beer, just as he always did.

He was shocked for a moment, floundering with trying to figure out exactly how he had gotten himself to the place he was in. Once his mind calmed, things felt natural again and his lips moved on hers with the same intensity and fervor which she supplied to the smooch. When the pair came up for air Kristoff grinned, "So was that a yes?"

"Of course it was." Anna said with a laugh, holding up her bracelet and pointing to it. "It was a yes since the day we met, and it was certainly I love you when you put this bracelet on me, so guess what?" She said scooching closer to him, pushing back his hair and staring once more into his eyes. "I love you too."


	16. December 16th- Blindfolds

Anna wasn't entirely sure why her boyfriend was leading her around, or why he had insisted on blindfolding her first, but one thing was for certain. She wasn't complaining whatever the reason. She was simply grinning and loving the way he took charge. She was very interested in that sort of thing; well at least she thought she was. Of course she wasn't sure what she was "into" at this point having never been "into" anything before. However some naughty novels in the library had recently introduced her to such a thing.

Kristoff was certainly shocked at Anna's silence. At first she had asked him plenty of questions, "why the blindfold" "where are we going" "what do you have planned?" However as it stood in this current moment, even after giving her no concrete answers, she was silent and shockingly so. He supposed that she had simply decided to play everything out in her own mind, maybe she already had him figured out or perhaps not. Either way he was simply excited. He had never done anything quite like this before, and though he hadn't imagined that he would enjoy it, so far he was feeling pretty confident and good about his plan. He wasn't normally good at these kinds of things, but he had read up on it and he was fairly certain that she would like the outcome of the little surprise he had planned for her.

Kristoff stopped before the doors, releasing Anna's hands and asking her to stay put for just a moment. He had to ensure that everything was just right. After all this was the first time he had ever done anything like this, and it was all for her. He wanted to give her quite the night, and he was sure that what was waiting beyond those doors was the very last thing she would ever expect.

Anna, in the darkness of her blinded state only heard the doors before her open and close. Kristoff had lead her many places around the castle, and even she who knew the layout of the castle completely, and entirely, even knowing the amount of steps between rooms, had been lost by the twisting and turning path he had taken. She supposed that it had been part of his surprise, to lead her around and confuse her so that she wouldn't know where he was taking her. Did she stand before her bedroom door? Was she in front of his bedroom door? She smiled a naughty grin as her cheeks flared red with a blush, maybe they were in front of the library's door. She wanted so badly to peek, to lift the blindfold for just a moment to see, or to reach out to the door, sure that she could tell where she was by touch, but that would ruin the surprise, and frankly the surprise was what had her so very excited.

Hearing the door open and close again sent shivers up Anna's spine. She had been with Kristoff for a little over a year, but she had never been with him. She tried to tame herself, to calm the flaring of a blush that covered her cheeks with scarlet, however it was not helped when he opened the door yet again and led her in by placing a hand on the small of her back. Warm shivers of excitement rolled down her spine and as he moved himself even closer to her she felt something just below her stomach, something new and exciting.

The feeling only intensified as she felt his fingers touch her hair, nimbly untwisting and untying the strip of cloth that kept her eyes from seeing the light.

"Are you ready?" He said softly, his breath tickling her ear, eliciting an excited giggle from her mouth.

"Yes Kristoff, of course I'm ready." She was more than ready.

The cloth fell away and along with a blinding light came shouts of "Surprise!"

Anna blinked for a few moments, disoriented and face ghost white. Her jaw fell slack, as she found herself in the main ballroom surrounded on all sides by friends, Arendelle Aristocracy, palace staff, and of course at the very end of the room, her sister.

"A surprise party?" She asked Kristoff, turning to see his grin, one that was certainly not mirrored in her petrified features.

"Yes of course. I actually thought you had me all figured out. I mean what else would I blindfold you for?"

Anna simply looked at him. It was a rather meaningful look, one that no other in the room, especially now that people had begun to speak and the band had started to play, would understand.

Kristoff was puzzled for a moment before it clicked for him and his face turned to the brightest shade of red she had ever seen. "Oh." Was all he could say for a moment, even stuttering to get the single syllable word out. "Oh Anna, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean… I mean I never expected that…"

Anna blushed red and shook her head before laughing at her own foolishness and pulling her somewhat clueless but always thoughtful lover into her arms. It was a week before her birthday, and had this all occurred next week she wouldn't have assumed as she had, however she supposed it was no harm done as only he knew what she thought the surprise would be.

He kissed her forehead lightly, feeling bad that he had confused her so. A line was forming by the throne of well-wishers and those who simply wished to see the Princess, but as they were at a respectful distance, Kristoff took Anna's arm and led her in that direction rather slowly, trying to stay out of earshot of the majority of guests if possible. "If that's what you really wanted for your birthday all you had to do was say so." He actually laughed beside himself, "It actually would have been a lot easier than planning this whole thing.

Anna kissed his cheek, caught up in the ridiculous of it all she laughed as well. "You really did well though!" She said as she looked around the room at all the decorations, green and pink and blue, her preferred colors, and to the table loaded with sweets, all seemingly chocolate, at least from the distance she was at. The band was even playing her favorite folk songs. He had gone through a lot of trouble and she was extremely happy. "I love it!"

Kristoff beamed, Anna didn't lie, and in fact at times she was even too honest for her own good. "Really?" He asked, pleased to please his little feisty pants.

"Yes, and if you want to surprise me again, you still have a whole week until my actual birthday."

Kristoff looked at her mischievous smile and was reminded then, as he often was, of one of the many reasons why he loved her.


	17. December 17th- Library

"Spin me! Spin me!" Anna giggled as she and Kristoff danced around the library. They were supposed to be helping Elsa with some extremely boring import and export reports. However they had been left alone together in the stacks with piles of paper on the table before them. It was certainly no wonder that they had rapidly gotten bored and had decided to run off to do something else instead.

It had started out innocently enough, Kristoff had been thirsty and had wanted a drink, and Anna had of course decided to join him being that she did not enjoy the thought of sitting in the dusty library alone with facts and figures which she could scarcely comprehend without assistance. They had been walking together, towards the door when Anna realized that they were entirely and completely alone. There had been no one left other than them in the space and taking advantage of the silence, Anna had of course wanted to break all the rules, as she always did and as such she had begun to shout her frustrations.

She had always hated being silent in the library. Even as a child she had been lively and hated the dead silence of the book filled room. She loved books and reading, especially adventure books, romance, and creative poetry, they were so alive so she hated the room full of silence. She had tried to express this idea many times as a child to anyone who would listen, her parents, her maid, her tutor, but no one ever let her break such a cardinal rule of academia. Until that moment of course, even if there was someone in the room she was an adult now, the crown princess, and frankly no one would try to or could make her stop.

She had encouraged Kristoff to do the same which lead to him singing rather than shouting, leading them again to their current situation. Kristoff chuckled before continuing his song in a lively and sprightly tempo despite the deepness of his voice, "And the starlight was in her eyes. She was the girl of ice and fire, nature's nymph and no woman had a thing on her."

He spun her and she was like fanned smoke in her slate blue gown, she was dancing the most beautiful dance he had ever seen, or rather that he had never seen until that moment. As she spun his heart leapt, as she leapt his mind spun. She had put a spell on him, one he never wanted lifted. It was a very simple curse that caused love at first sight. She was the nymph in the song he had sung since childhood. She was the myth he had always believed in, but had been too afraid to reach for until the day they met.

She had never really heard him sing before, at least not like he was. She had heard him sing a few bars goofing around with Sven in the barn, but she had never heard him sing openly, alone, and for nothing other than the joy of it. His voice was perfect, deep but with a quite extensive range. She had sang in choirs as a child, as was insisted by her parents and the castle's music director, but it had been made of mostly staff and that was how she had become many of their friends. As she stepped and danced and swung she began to hum to the rhythm of his song, not knowing the words.

Kristoff pulled Anna back tight into his arms and began to waltz with her though the song was a bit too quick for it. It was more of a festival song, where a faster paced dance would do better, however he didn't complain and neither did she. Their dance was hypnotic for them both. Each looked only into the other's eyes as they spun and swayed across the room, only stopping when Kristoff's song was done.

The pair was left panting, and Anna fell to the carpet before the library's roaring fireplace with exhaustion. She was a mere foot away from one of the library's settee couches, but the floor was where she landed with Kristoff almost immediately following.

She laughed and leaned onto his shoulder, "That was fun!"

Kristoff chuckled in response once he had caught his breath, "It was, wasn't it?"

Anna smiled and grasped his hand in hers. "We could do things like this more often."

"We could go again." He said, thinking for a moment before adding, "After we finish those reports."

Anna grimaced, she had nearly forgotten about the work that needed to be done. She hated paperwork just as much as anyone else, but she knew that Kristoff was right. She did want to help her sister wither her royal duties, she had been very overwhelmed as of late.

Kristoff helped a sighing Anna up from the floor and the pair walked down to the palace kitchens for water and, though not planned, a few chocolates for Anna. They then returned to the library to work on the annoyance with a new fervor. They both wanted to get things done to repeat their earlier interruption of library law.


	18. December 18th- Silent Summer Night

Rays of starlight shone onto the hardwood floor illuminating all in their path with soft shimmering light. All was quiet and calm as a winter's night, rare indeed given that it was the middle of summer. Not a cricket chirped, nor did even a gentle breeze rustle the leaves of the trees below. It was the perfect night for rest, and an even more perfect night for magic.

The moon was full and glowed gently on the fjord, every smooth ripple of the water brightened to look to be the purest white silk of a maiden's wedding gown. The entire kingdom was asleep, with the exception of one, its newest Prince, Kristoff Bjorgman.

Kristoff had never exactly fallen asleep, he had been restless and too busy to do so as his gaze shared its focus between the picturesque night outside his window, and the even more lovely and calm beauty that slept beside him. He watched as the cloudless night shone down on the water, being able to see it through a wall of windows beside his bed. Normally the curtains were drawn over the windows, only letting a few remain unshielded, but not tonight, not on this beautiful fair night.

The glow of the night sky struck upon their bed as well, making the silken green duvet shine in the light like the greenest meadow grass. The bed was warm and comfortably soft where he lay, but he could not shake the feeling of restlessness that struck him so deeply that he felt it in his very soul. Nights like this were the nights he would spend out in the mountains running freely through the streams and paying visits to his troll family. These were the nights he would not sleep. The sky was awake so he was awake. He and his wife were very alike in that way, however she could not stay awake tonight.

They had been married for a bit over a year, and on nights like this they would go out on the balcony together to drink in starlight, or when feeling particularly adventurous they would venture out to the courtyard or beyond the castle walls. But not tonight, she was tired and rightfully so. She was carrying his child, and now, nine months in and just about to pop Kristoff knew that she needed her rest. He knew this so much so that when she had wanted to stay awake with him, he had cradled her in his arms and had sung her to sleep. She rested easy beside him now, looking like a picture of maternal beauty and grace beside him. Though the night very much had his attention, she was by far the more captivating.

He looked upon her as he looked upon the moon. They were beauties that only rivaled one another, necessities in his life, things he felt he would die without. Her eyes were shut, lids calm and free from the fluttering that usually occurred when she was having a hard time sleeping. He knew that she must be dreaming, a soft smile playing on her lips told him this to be true.

He imagined her dreaming of flowery meadows, the places he would take her on warm summer days. He thought of her dreaming, although he thought a bit selfishly, of him. He thought of her dreaming about their child.

Her hair was shining in the moonlight, looking like the opposite of the night's shining light. Her red hair always looked like warmth to him, like sunshine, like the dawn that came after the darkest midnight in December. She was that to him, the light, and this was expressed in her by her hair, her consistently soft blush, and now by the maternal pregnant glow of her skin. She looked so natural to him that more than once he had dreamt of her clad only in vines, leaves, and flowers, just like the pictures from story books depicting wood nymphs and even Mother Nature herself.

He wanted so badly to kiss her soft pink lips, to run his thumb over their swollen flushness then to put his own mouth upon them. He would not, however as he again reminded himself of the importance of her sleep. He chose instead to rest his hand cautiously on her swollen belly.

His hand was light on her bump, but he let his fingers smooth over it gently. She carried his child, their child, and at times he was simply baffled by the miracle that had taken place within his wife. "Anna." He said softly as not to wake her, "I hope our child is like you."

He hoped such a thing with all his might. He wanted their child to be like Anna as she was perfect in his eyes. He loved her from the very start and now that they had wed, little had changed and the small things that did had only made his heart grow fonder of her. He still thought of her a beautiful. Every single day he counted his lucky stars and thanked them for bringing her into his life. Just as he now thanked them for blessing them with a soon to be born child.

Neither of them knew the child's gender, though a visit to the trolls had ended in Bulda looking very shocked but telling them nothing. She knew something, she always did, but she kept her lips sealed; only promising the pair with a bit of her troll magic that their posterity would be born well into the world. That any children they had would be born safely and would not become ill. Her secret keeping had worried him, but the promise of having a healthy child was all he needed to know. He wondered if, with the largeness of Anna's belly, Bulda saw them having twins. It was an entirely possible thought; however he tried not to worry himself with it. He would be there with Anna the whole time, and though it would be more difficult than intended he knew that they could handle it.

He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to imagine the way his children might look. Perhaps the baby would be a girl with her mother's sparkling sky blue eyes and perfect button nose with his blonde hair and ears. He imagined that little girl as rambunctious and naughty. The type of girl who would eat all the chocolate in the kitchen and despite having it all over her face would blame Sven or Olaf. He imagined her being a lot like her mother, with wildness in her despite noble birth. He imagined her with a love of the outdoors from him, he imagined her learning how to ride horses and climbing trees.

He smiled and then thought of having a son with his chocolate brown eyes and hair with Anna's nose and ears. At least for the sake of his children he hoped they did not have his nose, though he did think that it suited him and he was none worse for wear, he rather hoped they had a nose like their mother. He imagined his son building forts and learning to sing like he had enjoyed as a child. He imagined his son being his sister's protector, though she would be tough and would not need it. He imagined him being strong, but loving with a passion for others and an intellect that rivaled his own and Anna's as well.

He thought fondly of his children, and opened his eyes to find Anna's open as well. "Kris!" She said suddenly as she sat up and put a hand on her tummy. "I think my water just broke."


	19. December 19th- Portrait

"Kristoff." Anna said in a panic through her teeth. "Can you scratch my back? Please? It's killing me?"

Kristoff responded also through his teeth, that he could not without moving. "You can't get it yourself?"

"No, I would have to move too."

The pair was currently in one of the palace's many studies posing for a painting that had been specifically commissioned by Elsa. The pair had recently announced their engagement and that of course meant that a royal portrait of the pair was needed by rule of tradition. Anna was standing beside Kristoff in front of the fireplace, both were standing entirely still, straight back, perfect posture, and under the watchful eye of a rather surly painter. Anna could hardly take a breath without the angry little grey haired man shouting for her to stand still.

He was just an inch or so over five feet tall, and had his face covered with a permanent scowl. His hair, or the fringe of what remained of it on his nearly bald head, was the same grey as a stormy sky. She supposed that the color of his hair was also the color of his spirit as his aura heralded and portrayed the nastiest of storms with all the chill of the worst blizzard ever seen. He also acted with a sense of entitlement. He did not treat Anna like the royalty she was, which usually was something she enjoyed, but he was so ridiculously rude to her that she toyed with the thought of getting him thrown straight into the dungeon. However she was merciful where he was not, and also her wish to not upset Elsa did ensure that the portrait would get done. Of course she did not want to upset her sister, especially not after she had gone through all the trouble to find the very artist that had painted the engagement portrait of their parents, a painting that they had grown up seeing, and one they loved very much.

Kristoff tried to keep his expression the same as he spoke to Anna, they had both been posed to look towards each other slightly, but also to face forward. Standing that way, in their formal best, was frankly quite uncomfortable. Kristoff's suit felt far too tight, and the ribbons and medals of station that had been pinned to his chest were unwelcomed and made him want to lean forward, something he could not do when required to stand pin straight. He was certain that his spine had never been so straight, and he would have rather slouched. He knew he didn't have it as bad as Anna however as she was standing beside him not only with an itch, but also with the stress of being forced to wear high heeled shoes. She had always hated heels, but the old crotchety painter before them had insisted that he was simply too tall for her, and to avoid the ire of the man Anna had put on a pair of high heeled shoes that were obviously uncomfortable and likely too tight. Kristoff made a mental note to massage her feet as soon as they could escape to one of their respective bedrooms, but it was looking like it would be a long while off.

Anna tried to wiggle her shoulder imperceptibly in order to lessen the itch on her back. The dress she was wearing was not one of her usual choosing, but rather one that had been designed to make her look "sweet and innocent" in the words of the painter. Frankly it was a very outdated looking frock with itchy too hot fabric, and excessive lace. It even had a high collar on it, and frankly it was suffocating. If she didn't die of heatstroke she would surely parish of discomfort or suffocation. She wanted to scream, but instead she was only screamed at by the painter for moving "so much".

She couldn't help but wonder if he had been so terrible when painting her mother and father. In their portrait her mother had been in a far lovelier dress than the one she herself wore now. Even for that time she was sure that such a frock would have been outdated. She imagined her mother feeling just as tortured and confined as she did, but Anna was sure that she with his calm nature and big heart had fared much better. Or had she? Perhaps in her youth she had been like Anna and had been impatient and energetic. Somehow she could imagine her as such, perhaps because they had always been so very alike. It was from her mother that Anna had received her knowledge of chocolate sneaking.

"I'm dying." Anna said again, almost inaudibly through her teeth. "How long do you think this is going to take?"

Kristoff felt her despair equally. They had already been there for surely a minimum of three hours and they were both beginning to get anxious that it would never end. "I don't know."

He tried to be the calm one for her sake, but in truth he was ready to run from the room that very moment and never again return. He was uncomfortable, sweaty, and despite his excellent physical condition he felt as though his legs were mere moments away from giving up on him. The thought of lying down for a moment, even if it meant uncontrollably falling to the floor, was a welcomed thought.

"Maybe if we both run?" She asked, "He couldn't possibly catch us both?"

Kristoff watched as the painter turned away for a moment and took the opportunity to scratch Anna's back. "Good?"

"Lower." She begged.

He did as asked only to be caught in his motion and was chided for it. "Or you could just run and I could hold him back while you summon a guard to throw him in the fjord."

Kristoff was not the type of man to think of such things. He was not cruel and he did not plot, but desperate times called for desperate measures. It was only self-defense of course; the man was practically killing him and his fiancé.

"That sounds heavenly."

"So on three then?" He really was ready to at least make a break for it if she was as well. He had never felt so awful in his entire life. Truly the only thing that outweighed this situation on a scale of how horrid a situation could be was when he nearly lost Anna at the hands of Elsa's accidently ice strike and Hans's cruelty.

"We can't though. We'd break Elsa's heart."

Kristoff sighed in agreement, trying hard not to move as he did so. He would never get between the bonds that Anna and her sister were reforming, in fact he would help it in any manner possible, even if that meant standing in pain for another hour. He liked to see them both happy, and if a royal portrait would make Elsa happy, he would do it for her and Anna. They were his family now.

There was no warning when Anna fell over. Her knee had simply given out beneath her and in heels she could not redistribute her weight fast enough to catch herself and remain standing. As a result she went falling to the floor, taking Kristoff equally weak in the leg with her.

"Oops." was all she could say as she fell, red-faced, atop her fiancé. So much for finishing the portrait as soon as possible she supposed as she looked at Kristoff apologetically. This was surely about to land them at least a half hour of berating.

Kristoff however didn't care. He simply started to laugh, and after a moment or so it was rather loud and uncontrollable, even infectious as Anna began to laugh along with him. He was done, no doubt about it. Whether or not that portrait painter was complete he and Anna were leaving.

Anna moved off of Kristoff and heard the screaming of the painter. He called her rude, savage, clumsy, and a litany and excess of other terms to which she frankly did not give a damn. She would have this finished another day, or perhaps by another painter completely. She was sure now that Elsa would understand an explanation when given, and frankly even if she didn't understand the situation, Anna knew her sister would approve of her judgment. It had taken her a while to do so, but now that she was a little bit older Elsa seemed to respect her decisions further. Something Anna was both grateful for and proud of as Kristoff lifted her up and carried her out of the room gently.

They went off in the direction of the family wing of the castle where they would spend the rest of the day relaxing and being comfortable. They were giddy with relief as they finally were out of earshot of the angry little artist man and were left together, a little worse for wear, but with smiles on their faces. Escaping was a good feeling, escaping with your lover beside you was even better.


	20. December 20th- Fruit Cocktail

"Anna, are you drunk?" Kristoff asked as she stumbled into his room looking confused. Normally her stumbling would just be a case of her usual clumsiness, but today it was something more, something much more that lit up her cheeks with a bright red flush and had her giggling like a school girl.

"Nope." She said, laughing at seemingly nothing as she flopped onto his bed. "Didn't drink a drop. Just went to the kitchens for some chocolate and ate some yummy fruit." She smiled broadly, "There were berries and things in a pot and it smelled good so I had one… or two… or twelve." She looked proud of herself, "Wayyyyyyy healthier than chocolate. I did good right?"

Kristoff walked from the desk at which he had been sitting, planning out his ice delivery routes, to the bed where his girlfriend had fallen. "Anna was the fruit in a liquid?" He was beginning to get an idea of what was going on, but he had frankly never seen Anna intoxicated before. He had seen plenty of other men and women a little bit tipsy from a night in the sauce, and many of the harvesters he had met had been quite the drinkers though he never partook in more than a couple alcoholic beverages in a night if he could help it.

Anna flipped over onto her back and kicked her boots off onto the floor haphazardly. Her eyebrows went together, obviously his question was requiring a lot of thought. "Ummmmm yeah, I drank a little bit, but I didn't like it as much. It was really uh well weird I guess. I've never had anything like it before. It was strong and kind of gross."

Kristoff shook his head looking down at his love before sitting at her side. He was concerned, extremely concerned, "Anna, that fruit, did it smell strong too?"

She looked up at him, then frowned, "Yeah it kind of smelled like this stuff my Dad used to drink at the Christmas party. It was something I couldn't have… started with an R I think. Mom didn't like it. She said it hurt her stomach."

"Rum?" Kristoff asked, feeling a bit exasperated as the truth came to light.

"Uh huh." Anna said, smiling broadly, until the gears began to turn in her brain. "Oh no!" She said, her smile dissolving into a frown. "That's alcohol isn't it?"

Kristoff tried to calm her, giving her the most loving look he could as he lifted her up slightly and kissed her cheek. "Yeah." He responded, trying to be gentle about it with her. "But it'll be okay. I'm here."

Her face contorted further into a frown and tear began to stream down her face. "I did a bad thing." She said, through her tears, "I don't even like it. I was bad."

Kristoff's brows rose in concern, eyes on her and only her as he pulled her closer. "No Anna, you didn't do anything bad, it's okay." He pulled her up into his lap, "It's alright. The fruit you ate was soaked in rum, they're probably going to use it in the cocktails at this year's Christmas ball." He tried to calm her, "You're just a little tipsy, and it'll be okay. I promise."

"Really?" She sniffled, looking at him with such innocence, eyes welled up with tears and red from crying.

"Of course." He responded, remembering the first time he had really done himself in. Luckily enough he had done it to himself knowingly and with beer. She was going to have a much rougher ride, but he did suppose it was a good thing that it had gone down with some semblance of food. They had eaten dinner just a few hours before, and he assumed that it would help her when she got ill, something he was fairly certain would occur eventually. "You just need some sleep."

"Can I stay in here?"

He sighed, as much as he wanted her to stay he didn't want assumptions to be made throughout the castle and beyond as far as what the crown princess was doing, thoroughly intoxicated, in the bedroom of the chief ice master and deliverer of Arendelle. He kissed her forehead and gave it a moment's thought. "Yes."

In reality her safety was more important to him than his reputation, and he knew that no one would outright attempt to publically besmirch Anna's honor given the royal and quite powerful sister protecting her. So to keep her safe in this time of vulnerability he allowed her to stay under his watchful eye.

He set her back down on the bed and walked across the room back to his desk where he refilled the water glass he had been drinking from with the pitcher of water waiting there. It would be best that she was hydrated throughout this ordeal.

Returning he saw her stripping off her clothing, layer by layer in a tired attempt at preparing herself for sleep. Luckily enough she had only half of her gown unlaced by the time he noticed. This resulted in his taking a trip across the hallway to her bedroom in order to retrieve one of her nightgowns, returning with it, and exiting again so she could change.

It took of course longer than usual due to her state and Kristoff considered calling Gerda to help Anna out. She was by far the kindest and most trustworthy of all of the palace staff and he knew that she would personally ensure that Anna was clothed, hydrated, and into his bed. But before he could do so Anna was pulling the door open again for him. She stood in the doorway surprisingly well clad despite her alcohol induced clumsiness.

"Could you tie my bow?" She asked as Kristoff reentered and closed the door behind him.

She had turned around and was pointing to her back at a thin setoff ribbons that were there to secure the dress at the top. The rest had been done by buttons, and of course he quickly tied it and sent her off to bed, blowing out candles and leaving only the one at his desk lit, deciding it would be the best place to spend the night.

"Am I going to be sick in the morning?" She called over to him as he sat in his desk chair, she thoroughly tucked into his bed.

"Yeah, probably." He said with a tired sigh, if there were another possible way to help her he would jump straight on it. "But you'll feel better around breakfast I think."

She was quiet for a moment, processing information. "Okay. Will you come here? It's lonely without you."

Kristoff sighed, but did as he was asked. He didn't want to seem like he was taking advantage of her.

Kicking off his boots he crawled into the bed beside her. He above the sheets, she below, and began to play with her hair.

"Stay with me until morning?" She pleaded, obviously needing to feel secure.

"Yeah." Was his only response, kissing her forehead lightly before standing, only to cross the room, blow out the candle and return. He would care for her through the night and into the morning. He truly loved her with all he had, and if that meant watching her through the night and holding her hair back when she was ill in the morning, he was more than happy to do so.

When she drifted off he relaxed beside her, smoothing back her hair. "Night Anna." He murmured before resting his head onto the pillow. "We'll tackle the next battle in the morning."


	21. December 21st- Melodies

Kristoff followed the melody down the hall, listen to its sweetness. It was a folk song, he knew that much at least, but it was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time to him. It were as if someone was toying with the rhythm of something that he knew, twisting it and contorting it into their own sound. Lute in hand he had left his room in search for the mysterious noise.

He had been playing in his room from the beginning, he always played around noon when he had nothing better to do. Lunch was served in the palace at one, and he usually finished any official ice master business early in the morning, a force of habit he had yet to break living in Arendelle's very center of commerce.

The way his schedule fell, every single day he awoke around seven, began working at eight, finished at ten, spent a couple hours with Sven until twelve, then retired to his room to do as he pleased, usually playing his lute. Today had been like any other for the most part, except for the fact that he had finished his work a little Early and had as such returned to his room an hour early. At eleven thirty, or rather a few moments before, the mysterious playing from down the hall had begun.

At first it had been slow and mournful to his ear, but within a minute it had rapidly changed to the rhythm he hard now. It was a warm melodious sound, spritely, and genuinely unique. Never before had he ever heard such a lovely sound, and he was dead set on finding it.

Within a minute of walking Kristoff could tell it was coming from the floor below his own and as such he headed for the elegant wooden staircase at the end of the hall. It was mahogany and its design reminded him fondly of Elsa's ice steps. She had really had an eye for ice, just as the original creator of the steps had an eye for architecture, and just as whoever was playing had an ear for music.

Dead set on his quest Kristoff practically jumped down the stairs and ran around the corner, his square shaped boots leaving scuffs on the floor from the force of his sudden stop outside a familiar door. He knew that room, he knew it well. It was Elsa's office.

This of course made him stop dead in his tracks. Elsa did not like visitors in her office, much less unannounced, and furthermore Kristoff had a hard time believing that it was Elsa within. Elsa had always enjoyed music, very much so, but she was more of a singer than an instrumentalist, and everyone knew that, Kristoff included.

To him the melody sounded like a piano, and while he knew that there was indeed a piano within Elsa's office he imagined that it was there more for décor than something of use, at least for Elsa. He wondered if perhaps she had someone in there playing for her, maybe she was relaxing within to the sounds of a servant or a local musician's playing. Regardless Kristoff could not get by not knowing. Ice was his life, but music, well music was happiness no matter who you were.

His knuckles rapped on the door decisively before he had even decided himself whether or not he wanted to knock. Sometimes things were odd like that, the fact that he could see his own hand strike the darkly stained wooden door before he himself had even consciously decided to do so. He supposed that he had already made up his own mind before allowing himself to realize that he had indeed done so.

He moved his hand back and took a deep breath, hoping a praying that as the piano stopped playing he had chosen to do the right thing. The last thing he wanted to do was bother anyone, it was just exciting to him to hear such lovely music and he really wanted to know the source more than anything.

As the door swung open Anna was surprised to see Kristoff. "Hey." She said, shocked face quickly changing into a smile. "You're usually with Sven now. What's up?"

Kristoff was confused to see Anna standing before him rather than her sister. What had she been doing in Elsa's office? "Uh, hey." He said, unsure of how to answer, "well uh I finished up early and I was playing my lute" He raised the instrument in his hands in order to gesture towards its presence before continuing, "and I heard music so I came down and… well here I am."

Anna blushed crimson, "Oh, well come in then." They hadn't been together for more than a couple of months, and she was still learning things about him, and him about her. She had been comfortable so far with their progress, and Kristoff's falling into a daily routine schedule was one of the many things that brought her comfort, seeing him change up that schedule threw her off a bit.

Kristoff entered the room only to find it empty, save for Anna and himself. He looked around the room, seeing the piano bench pulled back but unoccupied, the curtains thrown open, and the desk neat and clean. Frankly there was not a trace that anyone else had been there in hours, only Anna and himself. He was about to ask questions when Anna herself walked over to the piano bench and began to speak.

"Elsa was out for the day so I decided to use her office for my practice. I know it's silly but when the ones I love are gone I like to be in their space. I usually use the piano in the old drawing room, the one my mother used to play because it makes me feel more connected to her, but being in Elsa's office while she's gone reminds me that she's coming back soon."

Kristoff was baffled, "You mean that was you playing the piano?" He asked, curiously and a bit shocked. He had no idea that she played.

Anna blushed again, "Yeah…" She said nervously, "My mother insisted that Elsa and I learn how to play as kids. Elsa's really out of practice, she hasn't played in years, but I always just sort of ran with it and I still play sometimes." She looked down at the keys, trying not to make eye contact with Kristoff, God forbid he see her red face. "I'm not very good though."

Kristoff was positively in shock, but it was certainly a good kind of shock. He could not ever imagine a lovelier surprise than learning that the woman he had fallen in love with played an instrument as well. "You're better than good." Kristoff said, his grin was warmer and brighter than even Anna's blush. "You're fantastic."

Anna smiled, fairly certain that he was just saying that, after all she hadn't been playing anything too complicated, only a festival song from her childhood that she had been toying with. She often played around with songs she already knew just for the enjoyment of it and the practice it gave her, but at the moment she wasn't even done with what she had been working on. "Thank you." She said, being coy, something that usually did not suit her loud and proud personality, but certainly something she felt every time someone mentioned her playing. In truth she did have a touch or more of performance anxiety.

Kristoff smiled, "Could I… well I mean may we play together?" He held out the lute yet again, closing the door behind him and sitting himself in a chair a few feet away from where her piano bench rested. He would have sat beside her, but he didn't want to put himself too far into her space, he didn't want her to feel pressure.

Anna wasn't sure at first whether or not she would say yes or no, but a look in his eyes made the decision for her. He wasn't malicious, he wasn't about to pick on her, and she knew that playing with him would only better their already blossoming relationship. Taking a deep breath she began to play a few cords. "We may."


	22. December 22nd- Snowflakes

"Kristoff!" Anna shouted running down the halls after her love. Her arms were positively laden with supplies, piles of paper, ribbons and such, but she ignored this as she dashed along towards the blonde mountain man. She didn't even pay attention as she dropped much of her pile while running, her one and only focus was catching Kristoff. She needed his help as soon as physically possible.

Kristoff turned at the sound of his name and stopped walking only to watch Anna lose her balance. There was only a split second between his realization that she was about to fall and the actual impact of her body into his. Her dead weight falling on top of him was more forceful than he would have expected for a body as light as hers. He had lifted her more times than he could count, but there was something about the energy of motion behind her weight that had the force to bowl him over, landing him, and her atop him, to the floor.

"Ugh." Kristoff said as he hit the floor, watching paper fly into the air and flutter down around them. "Anna!" He shouted to the redhead on top of his chest, he lying on his back on the ground. "What's going on?" He asked as she looked at him from his chest, wide eyed in shock.

Anna was so shocked, her jaw slack, her eyes wide. She had been running after Kristoff and now she was atop him on the floor. She was unsure of how she got from point A to point B, but she could not even find the words to speak until she heard Kristoff shout her name. "Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed looking down at him, "Are you alright?"

Kristoff shook his head and looked back up at Anna. She was wondering if he was alright, and honestly he wasn't sure. He had been too in shock to take inventory of himself, but taking a deep breath he responded. "Yeah, I'm fine. My back hurts a little bit, but I'm fine. Are you alright?"

Anna was overjoyed to hear that Kristoff was alright and quickly answered, "Yeah I'm fine, you kind of took the brunt of the fall." She blushed then remembering that she was on top of him, only then standing up.

As Anna's weight came off of him Kristoff stood up, brushing himself off before assessing the damage around the room. "What's going on Anna?" He repeated, not getting an answer the previous time, wondering if perhaps he would get the information he needed this time.

"Oh." Anna said, stooping down to start the process of cleaning up her own mess. She was still blushing, now at her clumsiness. She hated it when she made a mess, but she couldn't help but feel like laughing as she picked things up. She shouldn't have run, but she had just been so excited at the thought of catching him. "Well I was trying to catch you so that maybe you could help me out with my Christmas decorations." She said gesturing around the hall to the mess of papers, ribbons and other various supplies she had dropped, "I make handmade decorations every year and since this is your first Christmas in the palace I thought it would be fun to make them together."

Kristoff watched Anna collect her supplies for a moment before kneeling down to assist her, "Is that what you were running for?" He asked before taking a moment to laugh, "Well I can try if you want." He passed her the pile of colorful papers he had been able to collect, "But I'm not exactly good at that sort of thing."

Anna beamed, "You'll do great, really! It's so simple to do." Taking the papers from him, she kissed his cheek. "It's just some paper snowflakes and a couple folded stars." She tucked some messy strands of hair out of her eyes before adding, "It'll be a piece of cake."

Kristoff, simply knowing Anna had a feeling that it would be no such thing, but rather than telling her as such, he stood up beside her, her kiss still fresh and warm on his cheek. He would move mountains for her and those kisses, if a few crafts were all it would take to keep a smile on her face, he was more than happy to oblige. He reached a hand down to help her up, one which she accepted before leading him off to one of the castle's many sitting rooms in which she had already begun working.

"I'm glad you said yes!" She said grinning from ear to ear as he entered the room to see piles and stacks of white paper, two pairs of scissors and a rather large mess of paper snippings and scraps. "Do you have any idea how long it takes to make five hundred snowflakes by yourself? It takes a lot of the little things to cover the palace windows."

Kristoff gulped, he had had a feeling from the moment she had run into him that today was not going to be the simple and restful one which he had been hoping for.


	23. December 23rd- Rescue

Never before in his life had Kristoff been so frantic. It had been days and no matter how far and wide he searched Sven was nowhere to be seen. He had looked high and low, for the big Pyrenean mountain dog, but to no avail. He was beginning to lose hope, his heart broken he was only thinking the worst.

"I'm sorry Mr. Bjorgman, but most shelters in our area follow the seventy two hour rule. If a pet is not adopted or recovered by its owner in seventy two hours many over capacity shelters will simply put the animal down, especially if it is an older pet."

Kristoff felt as if someone had shoved a knife in his heart, "You don't understand I've called everywhere I've done everything I can, lost posters, online pet finder sites, I've called every shelter in the phone book… look could you please check again… I…" He stopped for a moment, eyes welling up with tears, so choked up that he could hardly speak, " He's my best friend, he's a Great Pyrenees, really big loveable boy… white and grey fluffy fur and he had a collar on, his name is Sven. If you could just please…"

"Like I said Mr. Bjorgman, I'm sorry but he's just not here. I've checked all our records and there's no Pyrenees here, nothing even close. We haven't had any bigger dogs in a couple weeks." The woman did sound as if she was actually sorry, tired and wishing to be elsewhere, but yet genuinely concerned. "If you've called all the other shelters my best suggestion is to go out to the edge of town. Over on Stanley Road there's a newer shelter. A few of our old volunteers started it up, it's a no kill for older dogs. Maybe your Sven ended up there."

Kristoff expressed his interest though the woman maintained that it was highly unlikely and that it would be a miracle to find him there. Kristoff's shattered heart knew it was true, but he still had to try. After all Sven had done for him throughout the years it was the very least he could do.

Taking down the address the woman on the phone read off to him, and thanking her profusely Kristoff hung up the phone on its receiver. He sighed for a moment, tears still in his eyes as his hand combed back a pile of blonde hair. It was just his luck that Sven would run away. It was their first week in a completely new house, in a completely new town, and of course the big moose of a dog had decided to break free of his backyard run to go free and explore the town.

That would have been fine in their old home up in the mountains, but now that they had moved into the city below, that sort of action was much more dangerous. Not only were there cars here, but also dog catchers and those who would wish to do the loving dog harm. His guilt was overwhelming at the thought of his best and only friend getting hurt, and he even felt guilty for moving in the first place. However he knew he had to leave the woods one day. His adoptive parents had cared for him well and when they had set him up with a mountain cabin of his own it had been a Godsend, but he needed to work, and he wanted more than anything to catch his destiny.

Starting out by losing the one he cared for and about right off the back was not how he planned to do so however, and with the last of his faith Kristoff grabbed the keys to his old beat up pickup truck out of the kitchen drawer he had already designated for junk and ran outside in his jeans, hoodie, and boots, more than prepared to get his best friend back.

He tried to distract himself from the thoughts that plagued his mind in the truck, but it was to no avail. He had tried everything, maintaining perfect unbreakable eye contact with the road, listening to old rock and roll songs on the radio, nothing helped. Everything reminded him of Sven.

_You ain't nothin' but a hound dog  
>Cryin' all the time<br>You aint nothin but a hound dog  
>Cryin' all the time<br>Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit  
>And you aint no friend of mine<em>

Kristoff switched off the radio wondering if the world was against him or if he was simply being sensitive. He couldn't decide which however because before he could think much on it he saw a sign that was his only hope of salvation. It was wooden, and freshly painted put into the ground on the side of the road. He was in the outskirts now, more in the country than in the city, more in a place in which he found comfort than the place in which he and Sven had moved.

The sign read, "Green Knoll Rescue and Rehabilitation" Below it was a well painted green paw and a short passage, "And then God made Dog and Man was Complete."

Kristoff, though trying not to get his hopes up, turned down the dirt driveway and thought for a moment that this was certainly the type of place Sven would run to. His heart was full of hope for that at the very least to be true as he went down the long driveway and glanced at the apple trees on all sides. It looked like home to him, and his hope was that it had to Sven as well.

One Kristoff had parked his big black truck beside a small silver car in the small dirt lot he walked in the front door of a small home like building that's front door boasted a red "always open" sign. Personally Kristoff wondered how they could be always open, but he didn't doubt it, when someone loved animals enough to rescue them and give them a home, they certainly were the type who was also willing to keep their doors open at all times.

Kristoff made a silent promise that he too would be more of a charitable heart once he found Sven, he would do anything to help another man, woman or child avoid the kind of heartbreak he was currently experiencing. "Hello?"

Entering the room completely Kristoff saw a young woman sitting at a desk smiling, "Hello." She said with a grin. "Can I help you find a forever friend today?" She asked, obviously she had experience with this before.

"Uh, well actually I'm hoping to find a forever friend that was lost." He walked closer to the desk where the woman sat, trying not to seem imposing as he often did due only to his height. He put his hands in his pockets and slouched down. "You see I've tried every other shelter in the city and I'm beginning to lose hope."

The red head frowned softly as if she could truly feel his pain, "Well I hope your friend is here then." She said, looking up to the large blonde man before her. She could tell from the moment he walked in that he was in pain. She was perceptive like that, and it killed her inside every time she saw anyone feeling that way. She knew the pain of feeling alone and broken inside. She knew the feeling of losing ones that you loved regardless of how long you lost them for it always broke a heart into shards.

Kristoff felt his heart strengthened a bit by the young woman's words. She seemed to be only a few years younger than him at most and she had such life around him that for a moment she almost made him believe that there was not a doubt that Sven would be there indeed. The warmth she expressed was like nothing he had ever felt before.

"So what can you tell me about your friend?" She asked, plopping a big blue binder atop the lightly stained pinewood desk. She hoped and prayed that the man's dog would be there.

"Uh well he's a male, approximately five years old." He paused for a moment as the lady flipped to the male section and moved to another area. "He's a Pyrenean mountain dog…"

He was cut off by her snapping the book closed and hopping out of her seat with a gasp. "Oh my goodness, Sven?" She asked, but did not give him enough time to answer before saying, "Why didn't you just say so, follow me!"

Kristoff nearly had a heart attack as she lead him through a door behind the desk to a large room full of cages in which a handful of dogs were being kept. He could find no words to speak, too in shock by the mention of his dog's name.

The woman whistled loudly and all the dogs in the room ran to the fronts of their cages, barking loudly with tails wagging, obviously happy and healthy as they could be. "Sven!" She exclaimed happily as she approached the cage at the very end, "I think there's someone here to see you."

Kristoff's heart leapt as he saw the first bit of fluffy white fur approach the cage door, and was even more over joyed as the woman unlocked the cage. It took Sven no time at all to race out of the metal surrounded space and into Kristoff's open arms. He had been kneeling down on one knee on the room's cement floor waiting for the dog, and had of course been knocked over with the dog's exuberant dash towards him. Plenty of licks were being made to his face before he tried to sit up only to hear the girl laughing.

"Yup, you're definitely his owner!" She said with a sad smile, "He's been a little bit shy to the other volunteers except me, and I'll admit I'll be a little sad to see him go." She tapped her hand to her outer thigh and within a moment Sven had jumped off Kristoff to approach her instead. "We've gotten to be good pals in the past couple days, huh big guy?" She said as she kneeled down to pet the dog between his ears.

Kristoff smiled fondly at the woman, her red hair shown in the light and her smile was bright and white. She had a blush on her face, obvious on her pale skin, which made her freckles even more obvious to his eyes. He saw in her everything which he personally held close to his heart, and within a moment he had formed his first crush. He blushed a bit as she played with Sven, Twenty One years old, just moved away from home, and his first and only crush was the woman who had saved his dog. He wondered again at the duality of the world. Had Sven come here out of fate, so that they would meet? Or was it simply because she had saved Sven that he was finding himself so attracted to this woman he had only just met?

"So before I turn him over to you I'm going to need your name." She said with a laugh as Sven licked her hand and the man sat up. "I can't just go giving dogs away to men I don't know the names of."

Kristoff smiled up at the woman, "Kristoff." He said as he began to stand up, "Kristoff Bjogman." He offered his hand to the woman, who immediately took it in for a surprisingly firm handshake.

"You can call me Anna." She said simply before leading him back to the office to fill out some minor paperwork.

Kristoff dotted his last i and crossed his last t before again shaking hands with Anna. "I don't know how I could ever even begin to repay you." He said to her as they shook hands, "Sven is all I have, and I don't know what I would have done without him."

Anna smiled, genuinely impressed by the love that Kristoff held for his dog. "Well you don't have to thank just me." She said laughing a bit, "There's a lot of volunteers who work here to make sure these older dogs stay out of kill shelters and find a home."

Kristoff nodded to her a scratched Sven between the ears, "Well I appreciate everyone who works here in that case. What you all do here is really amazing."

"Though I do have a small request if you did want to thank me." She said, a bit unsure but trying to be bold.

"Name it." Kristoff replied simply. She had given him Sven, he would gladly give her the world if he could.

"I get off at five." She said smiling demurely, "And I like to go out to Maggie's diner over in the Old Italian section of town for a burger."

Kristoff was taken aback for a moment before smiling, somehow someway she had caught his interest in her, and for some reason or another she was interested too. Before he could even say a word, Sven barked.

Anna winking at Kristoff chuckled, "It's a date."


	24. December 24th- Kristoff Claus

Elsa snapped her fingers and the previously clear air was filled with fluttering flakes of snow, nothing overly violent, she wasn't about to send a storm, but she wouldn't be caught dead with anything near a green Christmas. She grabbed a few gifts out of the pile her sister had left and began to load them into the back of Kristoff's sleigh, Anna quickly joining her to load the rest.

"Thanks for helping out Elsa!" Anna said genuinely as she beamed at her elder sister. Elsa had definitely been an indispensable part of her plan over the past few days, and had been very helpful since late Fall when Anna had first had the thought in her head.

Elsa smiled as she and her sister loaded in boxes and bags of all sizes and shapes. Everything was covered in pretty papers and ribbons and bows, the palace staff had helped them do all the wrapping as there were around a hundred gifts in total. "It's no problem." She responded, "I'd rather play elf than do paperwork and honestly Anna what you're doing is really generous. I'd be an awful Queen if I didn't help my sister help our people."

Anna smiled, "Really it's not that big of a deal." She loaded a particularly heavy box, especially given its small size. She wondered for a moment what was wrapped within, but hardly had the time to think on it too terribly much as she needed to return to the gift pile for the last ten or so boxes.

"And honestly it's Kristoff we should all be thanking. He's the one doing all the hard work." Anna smiled looking over at the man preparing to hitch Sven up to the sled. "We're just doing the prep work."

Elsa felt happy when she saw her sister smile. She herself liked Kristoff, he was a good man, but she liked him even better for the happiness he brought Anna. All Anna needed to do at any given moment was glance at him, and she smiled, which of course made Elsa smile. She was happy to see her sister happy, especially with a man who was so enamored and devoted to her.

"Well," Elsa said as the last of the gifts were loaded, "I'd better head in and finish the arrangements for tomorrow. You know Christmas can't just happen by itself sadly."

Anna nodded as her sister turned to head back through the castle gates. She had really appreciated her sister's help, especially knowing the sheer amount of work Elsa had left herself to do. She truly was blessed to have such a caring sister, even if it had taken a long time for her love to show.

"I think we're good to go!" Kristoff shouted to Anna from the front of the sled, the only space that was not completely overrun with gifts.

Anna walked up to where he stood smiling broadly, "I really appreciate you agreeing to this."

"Of course." He responded, getting off the sled for a moment to stand beside her, "Who else do you know with a sled, a reindeer and enough patience to play Santa?"

Anna chuckled, "Yeah but you didn't have to." She looked him over. He had really gotten into character. At first when she had asked him he had given her a tough time not wanting to dress up or spend the day before Christmas doing anything but preparing for the holiday itself. However from the first mention Anna knew that his fight was all talk, and truly was just an act. She could see it within him that the moment she mentioned the idea of him playing Santa, and the palace paying for and wrapping gifts for the orphan children in a local orphanage, that he was more than ready to do so. He had never really had much of a Christmas as a kid, the trolls did the best they could, but he never had gotten the cookie cutter childhood Christmas. She knew that the ability to give that to other children was more than he could ever ask for.

Kristoff simply shrugged and adjusted his hat, letting Anna look him over. He had objected only to the fat suit, agreeing however to wear full Santa attire in his own size. He wore black boots and a red suit, velvety soft and trimmed with white fur. The buttons were a shiny black, like little pieces of polished coal, and his hat was adorned, of course, with a big fluffy white pompom.

Anna reached up a hand to his face on which a big white beard was attached by strings. She looked at him with a light in her eyes, a naughty childlike glimmer there that let him know what she was going to do before she even did it. Quickly glancing to ensure no one was around Anna blushed and stood on her tiptoes to give Santa a kiss.

Kristoff felt her lips on his and ignored the tickling of his fake beard on his nose. Her lips were soft and tasted of the candy canes and chocolate she had been munching on over the past few hours. He put his hands on her waist and returned the kiss joyously. She was the light in his holiday this year. She was the candle on the windowsill, the fire that he always could return home to. And for tonight she was his Misses Claus, official or not they were engaged and they would let the world know after the holidays.

Anna broke the kiss, her cheeks hot with a deep cranberry blush. "You know those kids… the orphans… well this is really going to make their Christmas."

Kristoff, still a tad bit flustered from her kiss said nothing. He simply kept his hands upon her and brought one up to tuck a few strands of loose red hair away from her eyes. She was beautiful, dressed opposite him in a red dress trimmed in white fur that fell to the ground. He knew that she wore thick boots below it and several pairs of woolen socks. Upon her head was a circlet of holly and though she was coming along as herself, the Princess of Arendelle, he couldn't help but think she was going to make a very lovely Mrs. Claus.

He lifted her up by her waist and carried her effortlessly into the sled, setting her in the seat beside him. "Please don't put your feet up this time." He teased as she wriggled in and got comfortable in the seat.

"On Sven!" Kristoff called snapping the reins before Sven tugged along and they were off.

"I think you're missing about seven others." Anna teased back.

Kristoff shook his head, sitting beside her casually, "I only need one, always have, always will."

She smiled, Sven was pretty spectacular and she was sure that he would indeed put all of Santa's reindeer to shame. She placed her hand within Kristoff's open awaiting one as they dashed along through the snow. It was truly a wondrous way to spend Christmas Eve.


	25. A Very Merry Arendelle Christmas

Kristoff held the small box in his palm for the last time. It had been with him since his birth and it had always been the most important thing in his life, until somewhat recently that was. Something had recently fallen into his life which filled his heart with more joy and love than any box ever could, even when one considered what was inside it. He had fallen in love, deeply, entirely, and desperately with a beautiful little red head.

She was the most sought after woman in all of Arendelle. Men would grovel at her feet for just a moment of her attention, and many would put their lives on the line just to see her smile. She was the song all men sang, the unrequited lover's dream, and the unattainable. Kristoff would willingly die for her, but he would never have to. Some called her "_your majesty"_, others "_miss" _or _Princess_, however he called her by much more familiar and sweet names. He called her beautiful. He called her funny, smart, and amazing. Most importantly of all he called her Anna, and she called him hers.

He remembered the first day that they had met, then he hadn't entirely realized who she was, and hadn't cared. Frankly he still didn't care that his fiancé was the crown princess of his home country. He never felt like she was anyone but herself, and as such he had never expressed much concern over her title, or what being with her would mean for him and the rest of his life. He only cared that they were together, as the last time they were not, she nearly died. Also on that day for a moment, seeing her frozen solid before him in the act of saving her sister, something within him had died as well only to be brought back moments later with her thawing.

"Kristoff!" Anna shouted, running at him excitedly as he walked down the stairs slowly with measured steps. Quickly he put one hand, the one holding the box itself, behind his back. He had just gotten dressed and for once in the months that he had known her she had been awake before him. Anna was not a morning person, but apparently she made an exception for Christmas Morning. Kristoff wondered whether or not she had slept the night before at all.

"Merry Christmas!" She was absolutely beaming, and seeing him dressed in a well fitted green shirt, black pants with a red sash didn't hurt her spirit in any respect. "You're wearing the clothes I got you!"

Kristoff blushed over the fact that the focus of her attention was solely upon him but responded despite his momentary embarrassment, "Yeah, I really like them." His smile and words were genuine, "Thank you Anna." Frankly he was just pleased to have clothes which counted as at least semiformal wear which were also comfortable.

Anna smiled but waved a hand, "It was no big deal." She stepped forward to embrace him, but he held out his hand before she could get too close.

"In a minute." He said as Anna stopped before his extended hand. "We'll hug after you open your gift."

He moved his other hand from the position behind his back to extend it and its contents out to Anna, his other arm falling back to his side as he did so. Kristoff wasn't quite as proud of his wrapping as he would have liked to have been. The box was hidden from sight in crinkled brown paper which had been secured to the box with twine. Though he was usually quite handy he seemed to be unable to wrap and tie the small palm sized box without crinkling and mussing up the paper itself.

Anna smiled as Kristoff extended a small brown package out to her. She blushed red with thoughts of he shouldn't have, mind racing with thoughts of what it may be. She had wanted a new pin for her hair, but that didn't seem like something he would purchase. She wondered at the package for a moment before accepting it gingerly from his hands. She was unsure of what the box could contain even as she held it in her own hands, and despite her usual rush and excitement she took a few moments, beside herself to just stare at the object and weigh it in her hands. Something about the way Kristoff was looking at the box itself and the way he was looking at her told her that whatever was within was of some extreme importance.

She already wore an engagement ring on her finger and a wedding band would not come until later. She wondered at what could possibly mean so much to him beside that, but did not waste any more time just hovering in thought. Curiosity was overwhelming and though it was said to have killed the cat it only encouraged Anna to act.

Very carefully and gently, to Kristoff's satisfied smile, Anna tugged on the twine to untie it. She was honestly surprised with the wellness of Kristoff's wrapping, though it was imperfect it was well intended and not the worst she had ever seen.

The twine fell away leaving the paper free to be moved. It crinkled under her fingers as she shifted it away from the small wooden box below. Gazing upon it the wood looked old but shone as if it had been freshly varnished. Something which Anna had no doubt was true as Kristoff consistently cared after everything wooden with varnish and wax just as he did his sleigh, new or old.

The wood was darkly stained and despite the small size it was quite intricately carved with lilies of the valley on its top surface. Anna ran her thumb over the carving, it was smooth and worn but she could feel the design just as well as she could see it. It was exquisite and had obviously taken the artisan quite a fair amount of time. She was in awe of the craftsmanship but was unaware of the artist.

"Open it." Kristoff insisted gently as he watched her take in the beauty of the box. If she was already awed, she would be even more so when she opened it up to reveal the beauty within. Silently he prayed that she would like the gift being that it had been with him so long. To give her something which he cared for so greatly was like giving her a piece of his heart and he hoped she could see that doing so was his intention.

Anna nodded quietly as she looked to the box's clasp in order to open it. It was old dark metal, lacking luster and very simplistic. It was a very run of the mill box clasp, like the one she had found on many of her jewelry and keepsake boxes. However this simply added to the charm of the wooden container and she truly appreciated its beauty. She did as she was asked and as soon as her hand opened the box it flew to her mouth in shock.

Kristoff saw Anna's face of shock and immediately knew that he had made the right decision, not only in giving her the gift, but also for choosing to marry her in the first place. The box held his mother's necklace, a simple old thing that had belonged to his father's mother and her mother before that. It was nothing like that glamorous gem and precious metal jewelry that she wore for state affairs, parties and other royal events, but rather it was the jewelry of a commoner, and Anna was in shock of it.

Anna was lost for words for one of the first times in her entire life. The box in her hand contained a small and very old looking necklace made of an old and dark metal identical to the metal which formed the box's clasp. It was short in length but lovely in quality. It was links of fine, but very sturdy chain intersected with other metal pieces, swirls shaped like hearts. The clasp was equally as lovely as the necklace itself, a fact which Anna saw as she lifted it from the box. It was a twisted swirled rod, smooth to the touch, which when inserted into a larger open heart shape on the other side held the necklace on when worn. Its simplicity was its beauty.

On the lower section of the necklace was a single teardrop shaped gem in an oceanic blue color. It looked as if a drop of water had been taken from the fjord on its most lovely day and was hanging upon the necklace. Perhaps it was a drop of water from the scenic mountain lakes on which Kristoff worked. It was so lovely that Anna could scarcely believe that it was real. In fact she had to touch it to ensure that it was not just a trick of the light or some kind of magic. It felt cool to the touch, but not cold. That alone was enough to tell Anna that Elsa did not have a hand in the lovely necklace, but that answered nothing, only created more questions.

Those questions were queries which Kristoff was quick to answer before they were even voiced. "It belonged to my mother." He began simply, "When she and my father passed away it was all I had left of them. It was all I had left of my family."

He walked over to Anna and reached out his hand tentatively, "May I?"

Anna simply nodded, handing him the necklace.

It felt right in his hands as Kristoff lifted the metal and crystal creation from her fingers to his own. He unhooked the clasp and walked behind Anna who thankfully had her hair up in a bun for today's festivities. It made it far easier to place and clasp on her slender neck than had her hair been down and in the way.

"It was my great grandmother's necklace originally, a wedding gift given to her by the man she married, he was a blacksmith and made this for her."

Anna felt the cool metal on her skin but more so felt the heat of Kristoff's fingertips grazing the exposed skin of her neck. It made her shiver and smile, and even more so as his breath tickled at the unruly few hairs that had defied her and hand fallen out of her bun already. They were unseen, but certainly felt as his speaking made them flutter about and tickle and tease her.

"And she gave it to her daughter when she was wed. As a wedding gift her husband made her the case it was kept in." He did not move from behind her, and would not until he was done telling his tale. He honestly was unsure of how he would feel seeing Anna wear the necklace. Of course he knew that he would be happy, but he also did not want to feel the loss of something which he had protected so diligently his entire life.

"He was an ice cutter… a Bjorgman, my grandfather though he died before I was born. He was the second in the tradition, the tradition of adding something to the gift."

Anna listened to the tale entirely enamored not only in its fascinating story, but also in the way Kristoff told it. She heard the pride in his voice, the way he felt so strongly about his traditions. It made Anna's heart feel warm.

"Then my grandmother gave It to my Grandfather when he planned to marry my mother. My father added to the gift by carving the flowers into the top of the box…" Kristoff choked up a bit then, "From what I can remember from before they died… they died when I was very young… But I remember my father saying my mother's favorite flower was lily of the valley. He told me when he told me the history of the gift, and when they passed away, well it was all I had left of my family…"

His voice regained its previous heart as he stopped speaking of his parents. "And now, well now it's yours Anna, if you'd like it that is. I added something too, the crystal on the necklace is a water crystal I earned while living with the trolls." He then walked around to her front tugging out below the neck of his shirt to reveal a water crystal of his own on a cord necklace.

"I'm not really that good at this sort of thing but I thought you might like it as your Christmas gift. It's a part of me and I've been taking care of it for a really long time and…"

He was cut short when Anna placed the box on a nearby table and rushed over to him for a very sincere heartfelt kiss and hug. Her arms wrapped around him tightly and her lips were on his kissing thank you before he could even begin to react.

He felt her upon him and immediately lost his train of thought. All he knew was that she was happy and that her being happy made him undeniably happy. He returned her kiss with a passion as his hands slipped down to her lower back by nature. She was the best gift he had ever received and he hoped she felt the same way about him.

Breaking the kiss he rested his forehead on hers, noses brushing gently against each other as he caught his breath. "Merry Christmas Anna." He whispered.

"Merry Christmas Kristoff."

He kissed her again until they were late for breakfast, and then again after they ate, and more throughout the day at any moment they found possible. When caught they would blame it on the seemingly ever present but somehow invisible mistletoe, but everyone knew that it was just their way of showing the other how grateful they were for the best gift that they had ever gotten.


End file.
